Austin-Travis County EMS Union in Texas Wants 'Medic in Distress' Code

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The union for Austin-Travis County EMS wants a "medic in distress" code to quickly call police to a dangerous situation. This comes after a medic was reportedly attacked recently.

AUSTIN, Texas – After a medic was reportedly attacked, the Austin-Travis County EMS union is calling for a “medic in distress” code for police to arrive sooner.
That call was made yesterday at the Austin’s Public Safety Commission meeting by Selena Xie, the group’s union president.
Xie said the most recent attack happened a few weeks ago when a patient took off his restraints and attacked the medic. The worker suffered a black eye and a split lip.
“I do believe that if the officers saw that it was ‘medic is down,’ we’d receive a different kind of response,” said Xie, as reported by the Austin American-Statesman.
Austin police officials say the distress code for medics is a possibility.
“We’re committed to working with EMS — with the leadership and the association. ... If we need to make changes, we’ll do that immediately,” Assistant Police Chief Troy Gay said.
This comes on the heels of a new report that indicates nearly 63 percent of all Austin-Travis County EMS medics have been assaulted more than once in the past two years.
The report notes it is likely those numbers are underreported.
“It is estimated that even these high numbers do not reflect the true magnitude of assaults on ATCEMS personnel because assa...

Source: JEMS: Journal of Emergency Medical Services News - September 5, 2019 Category: Emergency Medicine Authors: Jeff Frankel, JEMS Managing Editor Tags: News Communications & Dispatch Source Type: news