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New Book: NEVER A VICTIM - How to stop violence against women

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Violence against women is now being recognised as a national emergency, according to a recent report from the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC). While this recognition is long overdue, the report highlights a stark reality: violence against women is becoming more severe, not less. In the 2022-2023 period, cases of domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking, harassment, exploitation, and child abuse in England and Wales rose by 37% compared to 2018-2019. Although part of this increase can be attributed to a greater willingness to report crimes, this does not explain the entire rise. We must carefully investigate what else is contributing to the growing dangers women face today. A New Wave of Misogyny One troubling factor is the radicalisation of young men by online misogynists who promote aggressive and harmful views about women. Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth has warned that this is a significant issue that must be taken seriously. More needs to be done by parents, edu

What is Anti-Ligature Clothing?

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Anti-ligature clothing is used to promote the safety of vulnerable and often segregated individuals, preventing incidents of self-harm and suicide, whether in psychiatric hospitals, mental health hospitals, secure care facilities, custodial settings, or any other setting where an individual might be legally placed in seclusion. STRONGTEX Anti Ligature Clothing Emma Pring, a young woman, tragically took her own life on April 20, 2021, while receiving treatment at a privately operated mental health care facility. She was wearing anti-ligature clothing that, in my professional assessment, was not suitable for its intended purpose. The coroner will have been appalled at the absence of national standards regarding the production of anti-ligature clothing in the UK. The objective of this article is to explore and highlight the precise application and benefits of anti-ligature clothing. While extensive mental health research in recent years has focused on components of quality of care, p

Human Bites: The Underreported Threat Faced by Healthcare Professionals

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Human Bite Injury Human bites used as a weapon in assaults against healthcare professionals are a growing concern. They form part of the many disturbing workplace violence statistics that have made national headlines in recent years, in countries around the world. Although violence in the workplace affects almost all sectors, it has become evident that the healthcare sector has the greatest rates of workplace violence injuries, with healthcare professionals being five times more likely to be assaulted and injured than others. They accounted for 73% of all nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses due to violence in 2018. ( U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics 2018. Workplace Violence in Healthcare ) Most healthcare professionals either have been bitten by another human being once or multiple times in their career, or they know of a co-worker who has been bitten. The wounds are usually located on hands, arms, neck, torso, and face. During a survey, a total of 34% of nursing assistants

Stab Vests and Spike Protection

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Stab Vests Must Provide Spike Protection Spike protection cannot be guaranteed with stab vests or any other body armour. Shanks, spikes, ice picks, sharpened screw drivers, spiked clubs and strong hypodermic needles can indeed penetrate them if they are not offering specific, and more importantly CERTIFIED protection from such threat. Interestingly, the need for spike protection was identified by prison and corrections officers, who were at serious risk from injury from spiked weapons. It was due to those operational risks and threats faced by the officers, that in the mid-1980s the California Department of Corrections issued an urgent requirement for all stab resistant body armour to be tested against a commercial ice pick. The test method attempted to simulate the dynamics and force used by an attacker using a spike, intending to cause maximum harm or death. Growing Risk From Spike, Shanks and Double-Edged Knives However, society has changed, and some will argue not for the better.

Bite Resistant Arm Guards

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Bite Resistant Arm Guards Bite resistant arm guards can help protect healthcare professionals, special educational needs teachers, carers and other working with individuals displaying challenging behaviour from physical injury, risk of infection, soft tissue damage and subsequent psychological distress. This is a fact. This statement is based on feedback from hundreds of professionals around the world, some of which who have been so kind and participated in our 2021 survey on the subject of ‘challenging behaviour’. Please read our  comprehensive survey report . BitePRO®   is the world’s first brand of protective clothing and arm guards brand, dedicated to offering wearable scratch and bite protection. According to The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, bite injuries represent all emergency department admissions in the United States. A low figure of 1% of all emergency department admissions is nevertheless an incredibly high number overall. Many of us know that b

Blunt Force: The Underreported Threat Of Security Professionals

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What is ‘blunt force trauma’, and what type of injuries result from blunt force impact? Please let me answer this question in the shortest possible way, without throwing some hyper intellectual medical terminologies at you, I don’t understand myself. Let me do it in reasonable simple and understandable terms, and more importantly, within context of this article. Severe injuries and deaths resulting from blunt force trauma are some of the most common cases encountered by forensic pathologists. For instance, almost all transportation fatalities, including those involving road traffic collisions and pedestrians being hit by vehicles result from blunt force trauma. Blunt force trauma is also the consequence faced by homeland and private security professionals after being hit by a solid object, such as a fist, foot, knee, elbow, iron bar, extendable baton, baseball bat, crowbar, brick, bottle, can, chair, fire extinguisher, to name but a few, or indeed after being pushed hard against an

The Personal Safety of University Security Professionals

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With a noticeable increase of young people moving away from home and beginning life on campus, university security guards are absolutely essential, in order to ensure the personal safety and protection of our students. In fact, organisations such as the U.S. based  IACLEA  (International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators) and UK based  AUCSO  (Association of University Chief Security Officers) have specialised themselves in, and dedicated themselves to improving the safety of universities and higher education colleges. However, it is rather saddening to see those countries, such as my home country Germany, still don’t see a need for dedicated security teams protecting these institutions. Why do we have teams of dedicated security professionals here, but not in many other European countries? I would love to hear from those in charge of university or college security, and include their comments, and update my article in response, if permission has been granted.