Research Article

Self-Reported Violence Experienced by Swiss Prehospital Emergency Care Providers

Table 1

Types of workplace violence.

Verbal aggression: insults, offensive or condescending language, threats (any expression with the intention of hurting or denigrating).

Intimidation: being followed, menacing or frightening behavior (fist gestures, breaking things), harassment (any belittling, humiliating, annoying or irritating behavior).
Physical aggression: spitting, pushing, hitting, throwing objects with intention to hurt, kicking, punching, stabbing, etc.
Sexual harassment: sexual remarks or pleasantries, sexual gestures, demands for inappropriate sexual contact or exposure of genitals, breasts, buttocks, demands for social contact, phone numbers (exclusion of genital zone, buttocks, or breasts).
Sexual aggression: all nonconsensual acts including physical contact to genitalia, breasts, or buttocks.

Adapted from the definition of the Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety [31].