Reflex Protect®, a safety company that provides non-lethal self-defense options and violence response training, offers a solution created specifically to combat the increase in healthcare workplace violence.
In September, the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) reported that in 2019, Type 2 assaults — including patient-on-staff and visitor-on-staff incidents — jumped 25%. The report also found the vast majority of workplace violence incidents (85%) over the past eight years were Type 2. Additionally, IAHSS determined aggravated assaults more than doubled compared to the previous year.
To fight this growing problem, Reflex Protect created Presidia Gel® in response to a request made by hospital personnel for an easy-to-use yet fast-acting, non-contaminating self-defense spray with effects that can be quickly reversed. Presidia Gel contains chlorobenzalmalononitrile (CS), a colorless and odorless sticky and non-atomizing liquid gel.
Additional benefits include:
- Presidia Gel does not cross-contaminate through the air, so it cannot affect bystanders or the user.
- It sticks to what it hits and therefore does not involve others in the area.
- Unlike pepper spray, Presidia Gel does not cause inflammation in the lungs.
- It will not spread into HVAC systems to impact other patients throughout the building.
- The patented spray head shoots a tight stream that is target-specific and can reach up to 18 feet.
- Presidia Gel acts immediately, causing involuntary eye closure followed by intense pain in the mucus membranes of the face and copious nasal and sinus discharge that causes a sense of — but not actual — respiratory distress, rendering the subject incapacitated.
Hospital violence is also prominent in poorly lit parking lots and parking garages. In California, from July 2017 to December 2019, healthcare workers were victims of 218 violent incidents in parking areas, according to the state’s OSHA unit. To protect hospital employees as they walk to and from their vehicles during shift changes, Reflex Protect created the Pocket Presidia Gel, sized to be carried in a purse, pocket, scrubs or in-hand when navigating areas outside the hospital. It is also helpful for nurses and doctors making extensive rounds alone in rural hospitals at night, say the company.
The company also offers Reflex Remove®, a decontaminant that gives caregivers a way to rapidly reserve Presidia Gel’s effects both on a person and on any surface. Soothing, cooling relief begins on contact. People can open their eyes and function within two minutes, and fully recover within 15 minutes. Reflex Remove also decontaminates surfaces and equipment within 30 seconds and is effective on pepper spray and tear gas.
“This unique combination of products makes it the only ‘hospital safe’ active defense solution on the market, providing security and caregivers the power to exert controlling force from a
distance without going hands-on with a potentially violent subject,” says the company. “This is safer not only from a physical injury standpoint, but also for potential infection and/or mental/emotional injury.”
For more information on Reflex Protect and its product offerings, visit reflexprotect.com.