Opinion: When patients turn violent, front-line workers become targets

He had my ponytail tightly curled around his hands and my neck yanked back as he yelled and spit profanities inches from my face. What started as an argument over a urine sample turned into the scariest shift of my career. A medical technician hit the silent panic button at the end of the hall, but before the security guards arrived, the emergency department (ED) charge nurse ran from the nurses’ station to diffuse the situation and put the 6-foot, 280-pound patient in a headlock.