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The expert panel included ACEP President Aisha Terry, MD, MPH, FACEP, alongside Kate FitzPatrick, DNP, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, chief nurse executive officer at Jefferson Health Philadelphia, and Mark Boucot, president and chief executive officer at Garrett Regional Medical Center in Oakland, Maryland. The panel was joined by SAVE Act co-sponsors, Rep. Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN) and Rep. Madeline Dean (D-PA).

“We can’t be the safety net without feeling safe ourselves,” Dr. Terry said at the briefing. “This is not a one-off. This is a daily situation in emergency departments across the country.”

The panel emphasized the importance of accountability as a mechanism to prevent future attacks, and reiterated the need to change the culture of medicine, which too often allows these incidents to go unreported and unaddressed.

The sentiment is consistent with 2022 ACEP polling that shows the rise of violence and the impact these attacks have on patient care and physician mental health.

ACEP is reminding legislators and health care leaders that efforts to curb violence are still urgently needed today—this is not just a pandemic problem, but a persistent and growing one.

A January 2024 ACEP member survey with about 2,000 responses revealed that 71 percent of emergency physicians believe violence in the emergency department is worse than last year. Nine in 10 respondents (91 percent) indicated that they or a colleague were threatened or attacked in the past year, and more than two-thirds (68 percent) of those physicians said that they felt their employer’s response was not appropriate. The survey also yielded more than 800 distressing firsthand accounts from members across the country.

Dr. Terry used her platform at the briefing to reference impactful ACEP state chapter efforts, including a recent Virginia College of Emergency Physicians-led effort to pass a law requiring trained security at emergency departments throughout the state, as well as an ACEP checklist developed so that anyone can speak to their hospital leadership about programs, plans, and features that make emergency departments safe.

ACEP is tackling this issue from every direction to make sure that emergency physicians are heard loud and clear: the status quo is unacceptable and now is the time for change.

ACEP also works to protect emergency physicians by shepherding support for the reauthorization of the Dr. Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act, legislation named to honor the life and legacy of the longtime ACEP member who died by suicide in April 2020.