Australia – 24th November, 2018: It was a "normal day" when neurosurgeon Dr Michael Wong walked through the foyer doors of the Western Hospital in Footscray and was set upon by a mentally ill patient.
"I was stabbed everywhere; my chest, abdomen, arms, legs, head, hands," he told nine.com.au.
"It was like being attacked by a wild animal."
After months of recovery, fearing he may never be able to hold a scalpel again, Dr Wong returned to work. But the frenzied 2014 attack, where he was stabbed 14 times, has changed his perception of safety in public spaces within hospitals.
This week a man was found guilty of killing a respected heart surgeon, and Dr Wong is demanding more security in hospitals to stop another tragedy happening again.
"In my heart I always feared this was going to happen again and the next person may not be so lucky. Then, two years later, guess what happens? My worst fear was confirmed."
Dr Patrick Pritzwald-Stegmann never regained consciousness after being punched so ferociously that when the heart surgeon's head made contact with the floor of Box Hill Hospital the tiles cracked.
Dr Wong said the comparisons between the May 2017 attack and his own were harrowing.
"This surgeon was about the same age as me, he had a young family with two children and just like me was attacked in the foyer of the hospital," Dr Wong said.
"It's so sad and unnecessary; why aren't we doing something about this?"
On Wednesday, a jury found Joseph Esmaili guilty of manslaughter after two-and-a-half days of deliberations in the Supreme Court of Melbourne.
Dr Wong welcomed the guilty verdict but insisted it was up to hospitals to offer more protection within public spaces of hospitals by putting security guards in the foyers and restricting access to some areas.
"You don't need to redesign the whole hospital for it to be secure. What happened to me in the foyer, what happened in Box Hill was in the foyer. "
"There are known threats that we are not assessing, or putting in place security to protect staff and patients against."
He said that, like emergency rooms across the country, foyers should also have a security guard.
"A single guard wouldn't make a big difference in a physical confrontation but it will have a deterrent effect."
The neurosurgeon said violent outburst in hospitals had become a "daily occurrence" and the number of "code black" situations, where the immediate safety of hospital staff is threatened, continues to rise across the country.
"We shouldn't be working in warzones. We are not soldiers and shouldn't be put in situations like this."
The increasing danger in our hospitals
The Royal Melbourne Hospital recorded a jump from violent incidents from 4000 in 2013 to 7500 last year.
The hospital released disturbing footage of a patient launching himself at a wire barrier meant to protect staff and a man hurling a chair before smashing a glass door during a violent rampage.
Last month, a man who allegedly drove into the emergency bay of Napean Hospital, in Sydney's west, and threatened police on site with a knife was shot in the stomach.
Police said the officers were not his intended victims and allegedly ended up in the 54-year-old's crosshairs as they approached him while attending to an unrelated matter.
Months earlier, in August, a patient who allegedly slashed the wrists of a nurse at Blacktown Hospital was charged, causing the nurses' union to call for an extra 250 security guards in hospitals across the state with the powers to detain violent patients.
In June hospital workers in Queensland said the presence of security guards with body-worn cameras had not deterred attacks on staff, which include being spat on and swore Paramedics on the front line of health care are also suffering an "unacceptable" level of violence.
Ambulance Victoria boss Tony Walker said a paramedic will be assaulted or verbally abused every 50 hours.
"They're reporting being exposed to about 14 events a day where violence or aggression was part of the scene."
The calls came after two women, Amanda Warren, 33, and Caris Underwood, 20, had their jail sentences for assaulting a paramedic in 2016 quashed on appeal.
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Terrifying CCTV at Redcliffe Hospital showed a staff member being kicked and punched by a man who also turned his rage toward the building, tearing a door from its hinges.
Violence the new ‘normal’
Queensland Nurses and Midwives’ Union secretary Beth Mohle said incidents like this had become "somewhat normal".
"It makes me extremely angry to see our members continue to be used as punching bags," she said.
"Any level of violence against nurses, midwives and other health workers is totally unacceptable.
Dr Wong said failure to quickly process mentally ill patients, including those affected by drugs, increased the risk of violent outbursts affecting all allied health professionals.
"It's a shame that with this kind of security arrangement most of our staff could be exposed to this type of violence."
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine found it takes more than eight hours to find two thirds of people suffering from mental illness a hospital bed.
Combatting the violence
Victorian Minister for Health Jill Hennesy condemned the violence our "hard working" doctors, nurses and paramedics faced.
"Abuse is not part of the job and won’t be tolerated," she told nine.com.au.
She pointed to a number of initiatives introduced under the Health Service Violence Prevention Fund designed to better control aggressive patients, which included deploying an extra 123 full-time security guards to 30 Victorian Hospitals.
Duress alarms have also been installed, along with more CCTV systems.
Waiting areas had been redesigned and access control doors fitted on a number of treatment areas to better restrict access.
New behavioural assessment rooms are now being used in 16 Victorian hospitals to process patients putting themselves or others at risk.
"We’re delivering on our promise to reduce violence at hospitals and mental health services… making them safer for all, especially health workers who are caring for us and saving lives," Ms Hennesy added.
Source: https://www.9news.com.au/national/2018/11/23/12/31/doctor-thomas-wong-stabbed-melbourne-dr-patrick-pritzwald-stegmann-killed-violence-hospitals