EMT attacked by patient raises concerns about violence against hospital staff

Video from inside Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, Minnesota, shows a violent attack captured on camera. 

A patient runs into the hall with a bed rail swinging it at people. That was just the beginning. In all, four people were hurt in the February attack. Only one has returned to work full-time.

Now one man is sharing his story with WCCO Senior Investigative Reporter Jennifer Mayerle, who found attacks like this don't happen every day, but they are happening more often than they used to.

The video shows the patient on a mental health hold striking hospital support staff. Then, the patient takes a swing with the bed rail at EMT Rob Madsen, who was waiting to transfer a patient.

"It was a bang, and I knew I was hit hard. He hit hard in the back of my head, and when I was on the ground, and then I just saw the blood running and just pooling right around," Madsen said.

Another angle of the attack shows how fast it happened, all in under 10 seconds. Another camera captures staff realizing what was going on, frantic to stop the patient and to help.

"Nursing was yelling that they had a medic down, which was me. There was another coworker, he was on the ground and unresponsive. They came out and gave me some gauze, bandages to hold on the back of my head, and then they put me on a stretcher and got me out of there," Madsen said.

Madsen underwent brain surgery and ended up with 25 staples in his head. He says the pain remained weeks later. 

"Just with the flashbacks from it, the headaches are incredible. Nausea, vomiting, coordination, short memory loss," Madsen said.

In all, four people were injured. Two were nurses.

"Workplace violence is really common," said nurse advocate Benjamin Baker with the Minnesota Nurses Association.

Baker says it's everything from verbal abuse to spitting on staff to physical attacks.

"It's everybody, it's nursing assistants. It's the paramedics bringing patients in the ambulance are at risk. I know doctors that have been injured. It's not just nurses, but it's nurses at a higher rate," Bake said.

Year-over-year data from the Department of Labor and Industry shows nurses had the most workers' comp claims paid with injuries from violence or another person. 

Overall numbers came down in 2024 after a spike in 2022, according to the data. 

 
But the Minnesota Department of Health reports the number of physical assaults against patients or staff that resulted in serious injury climbed from one to 16 a decade later.

A recent Minnesota Nurses Association survey found 86% of nurses who left in 2024 reported inadequate staffing was an issue.

"I feel like there's, I call it correlation, but it's probably causation, between the number of staff that you have on a unit, specifically nurses, and the ability for those nurses to deescalate and prevent from violence occurring. And so, as hospitals decrease nursing staff. It is correlated, I think, to violence increasing," Baker said.

For Madsen, his attack reignites the conversation surrounding hospital safety. 

"I didn't feel that there was any precautions. This patient was running or moving around about within the unit and had access to me and other patients," Madsen said.

The attack happened in a locked eight-bed behavioral health unit designed to reduce risk, where the hospital says it made intentional investments in safety. It updated its policy following the attack, including ensuring all patients are in their rooms during patient transfers. Fairview's full statement is below.

"My point is to make the point and advise other healthcare facilities and personnel is that you have to be aware of your surroundings, be diligent, and stand up and have policies in place. It's for the safety," Madsen said.

The patient who attacked Madsen died while in the custody of the Dakota County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office told WCCO: "We recognize the seriousness of an in-custody death and extend our condolences to Mr. Roeller's family. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office has determined the cause of death to be natural."

In the past few years, the legislature has created change. All hospitals must now submit a violence preparedness plan.

The Minnesota Nurses Association says it supports legislation that would put minimum nurse-to-patient ratios into state law.

Fairview shared this statement with WCCO:

"Violence against healthcare workers is unacceptable and remains a growing concern across the country. Our care teams show up every day to serve patients and communities with compassion, and they must feel safe while doing so. Safety of our patients and staff continues to be a priority across our system, and we recognize that more work remains, both inside and outside of our facilities.  

This incident occurred in a setting where we have made significant, intentional investments in safety, including a dedicated behavioral health unit designed to reduce risk. Those investments are important, but they are not sufficient on their own to address the scale and severity of behavioral health crises that emergency departments are increasingly managing. 

Across Minnesota and nationally, hospitals are seeing more patients in acute behavioral health crisis, often without timely access to community-based care or appropriate placement options. As a result, emergency departments are increasingly serving as the default setting, adding strain on staff and increasing the risk of escalation, even in thoughtfully designed environments.

 We remain focused on supporting our team members and continuing to strengthen safety efforts, while also recognizing this is a broader challenge requiring sustained attention beyond any one hospital."