The Staff Observation Aggression Scale - Revised for Ambulance Services (SOAS-RA)

Area of Science:

• Emergency medicine
• Occupational health and safety
• Healthcare management

Background:

• Ambulance personnel face frequent aggression in unpredictable settings.
• Limited validated tools exist for documenting workplace violence in ambulance services.

Purpose of the Study:

• Adapt and validate the Staff Observation Aggression Scale - Revised (SOAS-R) for ambulance services (SOAS-RA).
• Examine the correlation between SOAS-RA severity scores and staff's subjective perception of incident severity using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

Main Methods:

• Modified Delphi method used for SOAS-R adaptation by ambulance professionals.
• Data collected from 34 Norwegian ambulance stations using paper-based SOAS-RA forms (402 reports).
• Statistical analyses (descriptive and inferential) to assess associations between SOAS-RA and VAS scores.

Main Results:

• SOAS-RA scores moderately correlated with VAS ratings (r=0.350, p<0.001).
• Predictors of perceived severity: "consequences for the victim" (β=0.274, p<0.001) and "means used by the aggressor" (β=0.180, p<0.001).
• Female staff perceived incidents as more severe than male staff (p=0.030) despite similar SOAS-RA scores.

Conclusions:

• SOAS-RA combined with VAS offers a valid, context-specific tool for documenting aggression in ambulance services.
• Future research should focus on broader implementation and digital integration for improved usability and data quality.
• Enhanced documentation can support organizational learning and interventions for workplace violence in emergency medical services.