Paramedics working in Finland encounter some form of violence at a rate of about one in every 100 emergency call-outs.
That's according to the results of a two-year-long research project conducted jointly by Turku University of Applied Sciences, the Southwest Finland Emergency Department, and the University of Turku.
In the study, violent incidents were defined as being physical, verbal or sexual violence. The rate of violence was 0.7 per 100 calls.
"Not all cases of violence are reported, so the figure does not give a complete picture, but this is a significant problem," according to Jani Paulin, a senior lecturer at Turku University of Applied Sciences.
Alcohol a major factor
The study found that the risk of violence was especially heightened if any or all of the following factors were met: a weekend night, an urban area, an intoxicated male patient, and/or mental health problems.
The perpetrator of the violence was usually the patient, although paramedics have also reported suffering violent attacks at the hands of other people present at a scene, such as family members.
The most common location for a violent attack was the patient's own home, although incidents were also reported inside ambulances, care facilities or in public places.
According to the results of the study, more than 30 percent of people who violently attacked an on-duty paramedic were under the influence of alcohol at the time.
"Police resources are limited, and in emergency care it is still not defined how to act in certain threatening situations," Paulin noted.
The study therefore calls for clearer procedures, proactive risk identification and more organisational support for paramedics.
Number of emergency calls down last year
Last year, an average of 7,300 calls were made to emergency services every day — the lowest level for about two decades.
In total, Finland's Emergency Response Centre Agency handled just under 2.7 million emergency calls throughout 2025, down from nearly 2.8 million the previous year.
"Although the total number of emergency calls has decreased, the share of tasks assigned to authorities increased by about two percent," the agency's quality manager Emma Paasonen wrote in a press release.
The calls were answered within an average of about six seconds, the agency's release added, with about half of the 2.7 million contacts passed on to the relevant authorities.
Of that number, about 700,000 calls were forwarded to emergency medical services and just over a third to the police, while seven percent were handed over to social care or crisis services.
Increased need for interpreters
Separately, the Emergency Response Centre Agency noted that it has handled an increasing number of calls in foreign languages over recent years.
This has led to a growing need for interpreters, the agency noted.
For example, a total of 595 emergency calls were made in Ukrainian last year.
"The need for interpretation in emergency calls has increased significantly due to the war in Ukraine," the agency says in a statement.
In total, some 1,844 emergency calls required an interpreter last year, covering over 40 different languages.
Most of the interpreted calls were for Russian, with Ukrainian the second most common language and Arabic in third.
