Emergency staff forced to plan escape routes and hide their names

Threats, kicks, spit and punches. For the staff at the emergency department in Karlstad, violence and threats have become a recurring part of everyday work, according to several incident reports and testimonies from employees.

The situation has become so serious that safety considerations now begin even before meeting the patient. Operations manager Marcus Nilsson describes that staff should have a plan for how they can leave the situation if it becomes threatening.

According to incident reports from 2025, employees have on repeated occasions been subjected to punches, kicks, threats and other aggression. Meanwhile, management believes that there is significant underreporting and that far from all incidents are reported.

Among the staff there is a growing concern that the threats will not be limited to the workplace. Several employees have therefore begun to turn their name tags around or otherwise hide their names from patients and relatives. The purpose is to reduce the risk of being identified and sought out outside of work.

Assistant nurses Annelie and Suzanne say they themselves have been exposed to threatening situations at work. They describe a reality where staff regularly encounter aggressive patients and where some threatening situations arise daily.

Changed work environment

The problems at the Karlstad emergency department are not new, but the current reports paint a picture of a working environment where safety issues have become increasingly central. For the staff, it is not just about providing care but also about being prepared to handle situations that can quickly escalate into threats or violence.

When healthcare personnel feel compelled to plan escape routes and conceal their identities to protect themselves, it raises questions about the working environment in Swedish emergency care and how the healthcare system will be able to recruit and retain staff in workplaces where the threat level is perceived as increasing.