The night shift at Windsor Regional Hospital's trauma centre isn't a favourite among staff.
Every night, a police officer stands guard inside the emergency room, but that doesn't eliminate the risk of violence. At times, nurses and doctors find themselves in the middle of dangerous situations.
“It’s a difficult shift,” says Dr. Paul Bradford. “There’s been cases where we’ve seen massive fights break out.”
Bradford has been an ER doctor for 13 years. He says while there are emergency procedures in place to deal with these events, there's still a real of sense of fear.
“Don't know what's going to come in and out of the door,” says Bradford. “We've had patients (Tasered) and arrested in our department.”
During his time with the hospital, Bradford says he's seen a lot of serious injuries stemming from violent incidents in downtown Windsor. Last year, 12 patients were treated for significant stab wounds. That's in line with the hospital's trend of 12 to 20 patients a year.
Bradford says there's been an increase in the number of knife wounds and that nurses are re-directed to focus on injuries he says are likely preventable.
“It requires a lot of effort and ties up a lot of our resources for patients,” says Bradford.
The centre treats about 300 trauma patients a year.
