(PETERBOROUGH) Peterborough EMS chief Bob English says paramedics are frequently grabbed, slapped and spat on.

That being said, he's not shocked recent research out of St. Michael's Hospital shows more than two-thirds of paramedics have encountered abuse on the job.

"They're dealing with people at their worst," Mr. English says to as of why he's not surprised about the study's findings.

Verbal abuse by patients, their friends or relatives, co-workers and bystanders, was the most commonly reported form of abuse, followed by intimidation and physical abuse, according to a study published in the January issue of Prehospital Emergency Care. The study, which involved a 2011 survey of 1,381 paramedics from Ontario and Nova Scotia, revealed that 67.4 per cent reported verbal abuse, with 62.9 per cent of this group saying it was perpetrated by patients and 36.4 per cent saying it was perpetrated by the patients' family or friends.

"It happens everyday, more than less," says Peterborough paramedic Donna Lockey about the verbal abuse.

As for paramedics being put in harms way, 26.1 per cent reported being physically abused with 92.3 per cent of this group saying it was by patients.

"The actual receiving of a physical beating probably isn't as prevalent here as in other parts of Ontario but it is a major concern of ours," explains Mr. English.

Brad Robinson, part-time superintendent with the local EMS, says some kind of abuse happens daily.

"I have had people chase me with knifes," says Mr. Robinson, noting that the biggest problem paramedics have is dealing with people that are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Mr. English explains that there's measures in place to protect paramedics, starting with sessions that deal with health and safety issues and violence in the workplace. Most recently, he says paramedics have been trained in a type of self defence.

"The bulk of the training is to try get the paramedic in a situation where they're not backed into the corner. If it does happen we teach them certain maneuvers on how to get away and back to safety," he explains.

Even with the self-defence training, Mr. English says more needs to be done, including re-introducing a policy that had dispatchers flagging homes where violence has occurred before.

"The problem is we could be walking into a situation where the police themselves would find violent," Mr. English explains. "Certainly, a violent scene where you have guns or knifes or some kind of weapon involved is not one a police officer is going to go walking through the door either and we find our paramedics in that situation."

Flagging stopped last year after an incident occurred where a dispatcher flagged a location that was no longer a threat to paramedics.

"Dispatch's concern is that they will give wrong information that will detrimental effect on patient care," he says.

Mr. English says Peterborough EMS will meet with dispatch and the regional office of the Ministry of Health on Jan. 24 to try and come up with a process or method where flagging could be used again.

"If we have the information we can stage, which means we don't enter on the scene, but we don't always know that," he explains.

"We have to come to some kind of agreement or arrangement with our dispatch centre to flag these calls," he explains.