And it doesn’t always have to be a drug, alcohol, or crazy person. When a diabetics BS gets out of wack (hypoglycemia) they can become violent too.

Well, the type of clientele who frequent ERs are found to have a much higher tooth-to-tattoo ratio than the general population, so there's that. Based on my early years as an ex-officio member of the MKAGC (Memphis Knife and Gun Club), I can attest to the bizzaro-world nature of a city hospital ER after 1AM.

I was in LE, and spent a lot more time in ERs than I ever wanted to. I saw my share of the type of stuff cited in the report. The time I, and probably every other patrol officer in the country, spent in the ER only increased over the years. My hat is off to the medical professionals working there every day, and night. And about that deescalation thing, medical personnel consistently made every effort to "deescalate" the situation in dealing with these loud, demanding, abusive and violent "patients". At least when it was necessary for me to go there, I had a badge and a gun....

From time to time, I would wind up in the ER. During the intake, I would loudly announce that I was sober and fully insured.
First class service afterward.

ER is bad in general, but county ERs are just worse. Was chased a couple of times by crazies, while I worked at LBJ ER many years ago. Luckily, we had a lot security guys and the HCSO deputies manning the ER. Would never do it again, even if they pay me double, or even triple.

EMS personnel are not immune either. I had a couple of minor incidents when I was an EMT in the 1980's in a small town out west. I can imagine it is worse today.

ER doc here, have been hit, spit on, and clawed at multiple times in my 13 years of residency training and practice. I can vouch for nurses being at higher risk than the docs, EMS as well. The hospital does pay for an off-duty officer to be in the ED of our largest hospital (100,000 visits annually), and the security staff is in the process of transitioning to armed status (about 60% currently armed). However, the hospital has never done anything to assist staff or police in pursuing charges against any assailants. Only when an officer has been present for an assault have I known of anyone to face any charges. If I were king, assault on a healthcare worker while discharging their duties would be treated similarly to assault on a police officer, and I suspect we would see a lot less of this behavior.