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Emergency Physician Observations and Attitudes on Law Enforcement Activities in the Emergency Department
INTRODUCTION: Law enforcement officers (LEO) interact with patients and clinicians in the emergency department (ED) for many reasons. There is no current consensus on what should comprise, or how to best enact, guidelines that ideally balance LEO activities in the service of public safety with patie...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine
2023
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10047729/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36976602 http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2022.12.57098 |
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author | Khatri, Utsha G. Kaufman, Elinore J. Seeburger, Emily F. Alur, Rucha Richardson, Lynne D. South, Eugenia C. Jacoby, Sara F. |
author_facet | Khatri, Utsha G. Kaufman, Elinore J. Seeburger, Emily F. Alur, Rucha Richardson, Lynne D. South, Eugenia C. Jacoby, Sara F. |
author_sort | Khatri, Utsha G. |
collection | PubMed |
description | INTRODUCTION: Law enforcement officers (LEO) interact with patients and clinicians in the emergency department (ED) for many reasons. There is no current consensus on what should comprise, or how to best enact, guidelines that ideally balance LEO activities in the service of public safety with patient health, autonomy, and privacy. The purpose of this study was to explore how a national sample of emergency physicians (EP) perceives activities of LEOs during the delivery of emergency medical care. METHODS: Members of the Emergency Medicine Practice Research Network (EMPRN) were recruited via an email-delivered, anonymous survey that elicited experiences, perceptions, and knowledge of policies that guide interactions with LEOs in the ED. The survey included multiple-choice items, which we analyzed descriptively, and open-ended questions, which we analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Of 765 EPs in the EMPRN, 141 (18.4%) completed the survey. Respondents represented diverse locations and years in practice. A total of 113 (82%) respondents were White, and 114 (81%) were male. Over a third reported LEO presence in the ED on a daily basis. A majority (62%) perceived LEO presence as helpful for clinicians and clinical practice. When asked about the factors deemed highly important in allowing LEOs to access patients during care, 75% reported patients’ potential as a threat to public safety. A small minority of respondents (12%) considered the patients’ consent or preference to interact with LEOs. While 86% of EPs felt that information-gathering by LEO was appropriate in the ED setting, only 13% were aware of policy to guide these decisions. Perceived barriers to implementation of policy in this area included: issues of enforcement; leadership; education; operational challenges; and potential negative consequences. CONCLUSION: Future research is warranted to explore how policies and practices that guide intersections between emergency medical care and law enforcement impact patients, clinicians, and the communities that health systems serve. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10047729 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-100477292023-03-29 Emergency Physician Observations and Attitudes on Law Enforcement Activities in the Emergency Department Khatri, Utsha G. Kaufman, Elinore J. Seeburger, Emily F. Alur, Rucha Richardson, Lynne D. South, Eugenia C. Jacoby, Sara F. West J Emerg Med Emergency Department Operations INTRODUCTION: Law enforcement officers (LEO) interact with patients and clinicians in the emergency department (ED) for many reasons. There is no current consensus on what should comprise, or how to best enact, guidelines that ideally balance LEO activities in the service of public safety with patient health, autonomy, and privacy. The purpose of this study was to explore how a national sample of emergency physicians (EP) perceives activities of LEOs during the delivery of emergency medical care. METHODS: Members of the Emergency Medicine Practice Research Network (EMPRN) were recruited via an email-delivered, anonymous survey that elicited experiences, perceptions, and knowledge of policies that guide interactions with LEOs in the ED. The survey included multiple-choice items, which we analyzed descriptively, and open-ended questions, which we analyzed using qualitative content analysis. RESULTS: Of 765 EPs in the EMPRN, 141 (18.4%) completed the survey. Respondents represented diverse locations and years in practice. A total of 113 (82%) respondents were White, and 114 (81%) were male. Over a third reported LEO presence in the ED on a daily basis. A majority (62%) perceived LEO presence as helpful for clinicians and clinical practice. When asked about the factors deemed highly important in allowing LEOs to access patients during care, 75% reported patients’ potential as a threat to public safety. A small minority of respondents (12%) considered the patients’ consent or preference to interact with LEOs. While 86% of EPs felt that information-gathering by LEO was appropriate in the ED setting, only 13% were aware of policy to guide these decisions. Perceived barriers to implementation of policy in this area included: issues of enforcement; leadership; education; operational challenges; and potential negative consequences. CONCLUSION: Future research is warranted to explore how policies and practices that guide intersections between emergency medical care and law enforcement impact patients, clinicians, and the communities that health systems serve. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2023-03 2023-02-20 /pmc/articles/PMC10047729/ /pubmed/36976602 http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2022.12.57098 Text en © 2023 Khatri et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
spellingShingle | Emergency Department Operations Khatri, Utsha G. Kaufman, Elinore J. Seeburger, Emily F. Alur, Rucha Richardson, Lynne D. South, Eugenia C. Jacoby, Sara F. Emergency Physician Observations and Attitudes on Law Enforcement Activities in the Emergency Department |
title | Emergency Physician Observations and Attitudes on Law Enforcement Activities in the Emergency Department |
title_full | Emergency Physician Observations and Attitudes on Law Enforcement Activities in the Emergency Department |
title_fullStr | Emergency Physician Observations and Attitudes on Law Enforcement Activities in the Emergency Department |
title_full_unstemmed | Emergency Physician Observations and Attitudes on Law Enforcement Activities in the Emergency Department |
title_short | Emergency Physician Observations and Attitudes on Law Enforcement Activities in the Emergency Department |
title_sort | emergency physician observations and attitudes on law enforcement activities in the emergency department |
topic | Emergency Department Operations |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10047729/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36976602 http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2022.12.57098 |
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