By Jeff Wardon, Jr., Assistant Editor

While treating and dealing with patients is central to healthcare, sometimes patients can start to become disruptive and disorderly. In these cases, staff need to be properly equipped to handle and defuse them before they can turn dangerous. This is especially true if the patient is under the influence of a substance, such as what happened recently at Brandon Regional Health Centre in Brandon, Manitoba. 

Police were called to the hospital on October 6 to help deal with a disorderly patient who was found to possess 7.5 ounces of cocaine, according to Discover Westman. The suspect was arrested at the scene and was later medically cleared at the Brandon Police Station. 

Related: De-escalation Training is Critical for Safety in Healthcare

Disorderly patients aren’t an uncommon occurrence, but they’re a potential risk to the safety and security of healthcare facility occupants. Knowing how to properly de-escalate a tense situation is key to addressing that risk.  

The Western Journal of Emergency Medicine recommends these 10 guidelines to de-escalate volatile situations effectively: 

1. Respect both the patient’s and one’s own personal space 
2. Don’t provoke the patient 
3. Establish verbal contact and have only one person interact with the patient 
4. Keep things simple and repetition of one’s message to the patient helps with successful de-escalation 
5. Identify the patient’s wants and feelings from the information that they readily present, such as their body language 
6. Actively listen to what the patient is saying 
7. Agree or just agree to disagree with the patient 
8. Set forth basic rules and reasonable limits 
9. Offer the patient choices and be kind 
10. Debrief both the patient and staff 

Jeff Wardon, Jr., is the assistant editor for the facilities market.