I’ll tell you a story. When I was in residency a 200+ pound man was brought into the emergency department for agitation. He was uncuffed by NYPD and released into a room with sliding glass doors. He was sweating, shouting, punching walls, and punching himself. 1/ 
He picked up the stretcher and slid it hard against the glass door. BANG! He was intoxicated and enraged. At one point he looked at me and said, “I’m going to kill you.” He punched the walls and his own chest. He paced his room. When security entered his room he punched one. 2/
Outside the room was a crowd of security, technicians, nurses, & doctors. I felt like a bystander as well as a member of the treating team. We waited outside and discussed a plan. We formed a strategy to calm him. Verbal redirection, assessed his needs, spoke slowly & softly. 3/
Nothing worked. My attending looked over and said, “What do you want to do?”
Never once, during all of the chaos or his threat to harm, did I think to myself that in order to control this stressful situation someone would have to die. 4/
Never once, during all of the chaos or his threat to harm, did I think to myself that in order to control this stressful situation someone would have to die. 4/
There are strategies to control our response to threats. Often it is giving time & space. Often it is physical restraints w/ safe positioning. Often its medication to cause sedation. Never, not even once should it be murder. We are not perfect & we are not above the law. 5/
I am not threatened in the same way or frequency as law enforcement. However, I am threatened enough to understand fear. Harming the patient is not our default. I hope we, healthcare providers and law enforcement, can exchange stories, strategies, & skills to work together. 6/
As 4 POC physicians we feel obligated to write about issues that are unfairly affecting POC. Thank you @gr8vision @OnyekaOtugo @alvarezzzy. Thank you to @jeremyfaust for your support. Thank you @USATODAY for amplifying our voices. #blacklivesmatter #whitecoatsforblacklives 7/
usatoday.com/story/opinion/…
An article by POC MDs encouraging an opportunity for law enforcement to collaborate with emergency medicine providers to optimize safe strategies of deescalation.
@choo_ek @uche_blackstock @DrOniBee @DrTsion @jeremyfaust @AliRaja_MD @gradydoctor 8/
An article by POC MDs encouraging an opportunity for law enforcement to collaborate with emergency medicine providers to optimize safe strategies of deescalation.
@choo_ek @uche_blackstock @DrOniBee @DrTsion @jeremyfaust @AliRaja_MD @gradydoctor 8/
