Become Aware
Get Prepared
Limit Risk
What De-escalation Training Covers
At Iron Temple Training Center, we offer comprehensive emergency department de-escalation training that equips your staff with proven strategies for managing conflict and aggression, ensuring safety for both staff and patients.
Our unique De-escalate to Safe State (DESS) method takes a prevention-first approach to help your staff calm a potentially violent situation before it becomes unmanageable.
Your care team will learn how to take an empathetic approach to every patient interaction. They’ll discover the importance of building and using active listening skills, validating patients’ emotions, and making a genuine effort to understand their fears and make them feel heard.
Our emergency department de-escalation training curriculum includes important verbal communication skills, such as establishing common ground and using neutral language, which helps with managing agitated patients and preventing the need for self-defense or restrictive measures.
In addition, staff are trained to recognize early signs of escalation through improved situational awareness, including changes in body language, emotional intensity, and environmental risk factors. An awareness-first approach helps teams intervene sooner and maintain the space and time needed to de-escalate safely in fast-moving emergency department settings.
We also teach invaluable non-verbal communication skills, such as softening body language and respecting personal space, which are crucial when verbal communication is challenging.
Teams will learn proven methods for picking up on patient cues and adjusting the approach accordingly to prevent escalation. You’ll also learn tactics for navigating the pitfalls of the job, including fatigue and constant hurry, to reduce mistakes and the urge to react defensively when patients are agitated.
These skills lead to much better outcomes for patients and care teams alike and offer many benefits for healthcare institutions.
Why Emergency Teams Need Specialized Training
Emergency departments are high-stress environments. Care teams are constantly trying to handle life-threatening situations, which necessitate making rapid decisions under significant pressure. In some cases, issues like staffing and resource constraints can increase stress, especially when dealing with a high volume of patients.
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Often, the care team, patient, and patient’s family are all dealing with the emotional toll of experiencing or witnessing suffering and trauma.
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For care professionals, repeated exposure to these types of environments can lead to emotional exhaustion and compassion fatigue, making emergency department de-escalation an even more difficult task.
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Emergency department staff are also trained to identify early behavioral indicators that may signal escalation, allowing them to adjust their approach before situations become physical. Recognizing these cues early helps reduce reactive responses and supports safer outcomes for both staff and patients.
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Statistics show that violence has become commonplace in these high-stress situations. According to the American College of Emergency Physicians, 90% of physicians say they’ve experienced violence from patients in the past year, and 85% of physicians believe the rate of violence has increased in the past five years.
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Unfortunately, this violence is costly to healthcare institutions, as it impacts public perception, staff well-being, and job satisfaction and retention rates. It can also result in expensive legal issues for the hospital and its care team members.
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Emergency department de-escalation training is needed to reduce incidences of violence and protect staff who are at risk of injury every day.
Training Benefits for Emergency Departments
ITTC’s emergency department de-escalation training can benefit your hospital emergency department in a variety of ways. It is a primary goal for your staff to experience increased confidence and skill after taking our training workshops.
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They’ll be more confident and competent in handling difficult situations that may arise with patients when they know they have a plan in place to prevent and handle violent or aggressive behavior.
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By providing strategies for dealing with verbal abuse and other stressors, training can also lower the burden of workplace violence and potentially reduce high staff turnover.
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Our emergency department de-escalation training can also help you achieve enhanced safety in your emergency department (ED). As violence against emergency care teams continues to rise, your employees need proven methods to protect themselves without resorting to force and de-escalate situations before they become unmanageable.
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A key outcome of ITTC’s training is helping teams guide situations back to a Safe State, where emotional intensity is reduced, communication is restored, and the environment is stabilized. By focusing on prevention and early intervention, staff can often avoid the need for physical restraints or other restrictive measures.
Your staff aren’t the only ones who can benefit from our training sessions. Implementing de-escalation tactics can also reduce the need for physical restraints, which is a key goal for many hospitals.
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Training may also reduce the need for sedating medications as a first-line response and allow the staff to focus more on caring for patients than managing crises, all of which can lead to a more positive patient experience.
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For hospitals and healthcare institutions, effective training can produce increased satisfaction and lower spending.
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Patients are more likely to be satisfied with the level of care and service they’ve received when conflicts are handled safely and appropriately. Additionally, by reducing violence, the use of restraints, and the need for sedating medications, hospitals may reduce legal and resource-related costs.
How We Support ED Staff
At ITTC, we employ a proven emergency department de-escalation training curriculum that has been tried and tested in the field. Our training is designed specifically for healthcare environments and emphasizes prevention-first, team-based responses that align with patient dignity and clinical safety standards.
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Our trainers have used these methods in their line of work as law enforcement officers, martial artists, and hospital staff members. They know what works in various real-world situations and can teach your staff how to defuse tense situations when the stakes are high.
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Additionally, our training team has deep niche experience in the healthcare space. We know the serious issues emergency department care teams face every day and the challenges they have in dealing with aggressive patients while navigating limited time, energy, and resources.
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Not only can we provide your staff with real solutions, but we can do it in a way that’s compliant with state-specific requirements in California, Texas, and New Jersey.
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Knowing that ED care teams would prefer to avoid hands-on tactics, our emergency department de-escalation training focuses on preventive techniques. Instead of waiting until situations become unmanageable, we teach your staff to employ calming techniques early in an effort to keep things from escalating in the first place.
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We can deliver training in a format that works for your team, including in-person and online. Contact us today to schedule a personalized consultation with an expert advisor who can ensure your staff gets the right training to enhance safety and satisfaction.
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What Do Our Healthcare Clients Think About Our Training?
I wanted to thank you and your team at Iron Temple for a great partnership over the last two years. Your team’s professionalism, attention to detail, and mastery of the subject have been an invaluable resource to my staff’s education and training. They are expertly prepared for the rigors of the healthcare security and safety profession and are able to recognize and defuse incidents routinely.
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My system workplace violence data has decreased by approximately 20% and most importantly, staff injuries have reduced by more than 50%. I am glad to be able to say that my staff have not had a single day out of work due to workplace violence-related injuries.
- St. Joseph's Health
Empower Your Team With ITTC Today!
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our only goal is to help enhance your organization's safety and preparedness. We look forward to working
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