Fight, flight, freeze, fawn: mapping emergency department staff stress responses to workplace violence - a mixed-methods study

Background

Workplace violence and aggression are escalating in emergency departments (EDs) globally, yet the self-reported psychological and behavioural responses in clinicians to such stressors remain underexplored. Trauma theory conceptualises stress responses as fight, flight, freeze, and fawn (4Fs); but how these responses manifest in ED staff before, during and after violent incidents has received limited empirical attention.