Some time ago I visited a fire station to offer free self-defence training to their staff, but they politely refused, saying that firefighters look intimidating in their uniforms and they work in a big team team. Fair enough, you might say. However, you’d be surprised by just how many emergency workers are attacked in the UK. The Association of Ambulance Chief Executives (AACE) has estimated that 55 ambulance staff face verbal abuse or physical attack every single day. Across the 14 ambulance services that cover the UK over 19,000 incidents were reported in 2023/24.

To me, that’s horrific. Ambulance staff are highly trained emergency workers, there to save lives, think on their feet and give the necessary medical care when they arrive at the scene of a car crash or enter the home of someone with a suspected heart attack. They are heroes. But they are also ‘just’ people. People who, without question, will race into a situation without any real concern about their own safety. People who want to do their best for others who need medical assistance. People who, for whatever reason, are finding themselves subjected to violence.

Scared to go to work every day?

This has the knock-on effect of staff being off work in order to recover from their injuries, others struggling with their mental health and the impact of working in a job where they worry that if it’s happened once it may well happen again, and those who choose to walk away from the service because they simply can’t cope or aren’t prepared to work in risky conditions. And this is despite measures being taken to try to ensure personal safety. In 2022 AACE launched its #WorkWithoutFear campaign, which included various resources to educate staff on how to stay safe, teaching conflict resolution skills and some services have now introduced body-worn cameras – video footage of incidents is useful obviously in the event of someone being prosecuted. And perpetrators are being successfully prosecuted – assaulting an emergency worker can lead to imprisonment for up to two years.

All good stuff but I’d argue that the campaign doesn’t go far enough in terms of practical skills. I firmly believe that emergency workers shouldn’t have to go to work every day fearing for their safety. If they had the necessary knowledge to defend themselves using reasonable force, their working conditions would be much improved. And they’d feel better equipped to concentrate on the job they’re meant to be doing.

Krav Generation teaches self-defence techniques that work

At Krav Generation we keep it real, teaching practical self-defence for real attacks and violent confrontations. With experience in the forces and security industry, we have hands-on experience of threatening and violent situations – that, combined with our knowledge of self-defence, means our classes are effective. Through scenario-based training we convey how dangerous situations will feel, how they can be avoided and/or prevented and how to survive them. We all possess a natural defence mechanism, we take that and harness your natural reactions to be effective. As you learn a wide variety of self-defence techniques, so you’ll build the necessary muscle memory to react and defend an attack of any kind.

But it’s not just about knowing how to physically defend yourself. We also teach situational awareness, helping you hone the ability to read a situation, to pre-empt someone’s actions, make an informed assessment of the situation and react appropriately.

Krav Generation classes are perfect for emergency workers

We run weekly classes in various locations, as well as 1-2-1 training and bespoke training sessions. We have provided group training for the emergency services, supermarkets, estate agents, schools, colleges and universities, youth and sports clubs, women’s refuge centres, specialist schools & home school networks and corporate staff. If you or any of your colleagues would like to find out more, why not sign up for a taster session – the first class is absolutely free and we offer a 10% discount for emergency workers who join the club.