Gracie Medical Defense™ at UCI Health

The UCI Health Workplace Violence Prevention Team has partnered with the world’s leading self-defense institution, Gracie University of Jiu-Jitsu, to provide enhanced personal safety training to our UCI Health co-workers in designated higher risk units.

This will be an interactive and hands-on course tailored for front-line clinical co-workers. It will provide skills to better keep yourselves and others safe, and to reduce the risk of injury, when encountering a combative person.

Gracie Medical Defense™ (GMD) is a comprehensive workplace safety system designed to address the most common physical threats experienced by medical staff. The GMD techniques are based on the time-tested principles of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) but have all been specifically adapted for use in healthcare.

Here is some of what is taught in this fun, interactive seminar:

• How to use distance management to mitigate threats of all kinds
• How to escape the most common grabs (standing and bedside)
• How to defend against kicks from the bedside
• How to use the Punch Block Series to avoid injury on the ground
• How to escape from being strangled (standing and bedside)
• How to intervene safely if a colleague is being attacked (standing position and on the ground)
• How to verbally de-escalate combative situations to set protective boundaries
• How to use manual control tactics to ensure staff and patient safety

Due to the inherently de-escalatory nature of jiu-jitsu, all the techniques are designed to keep medical staff safe while also protecting patients from harm.

The GMD program was designed for men and women with absolutely no previous experience, and all the techniques can be learned and practiced by anyone, regardless of their age or physical fitness level.

If, for any reason, you are not comfortable participating, you can simply show up and watch, and you will still learn a ton.

This special 4-hour seminar is free for all UCI Health co-workers (in designated units), and all participants will be paid using Continuing Education (CE) credits, but space is limited so you must pre-register in the UC Learning Center where you can search “Gracie Medical Defense” to find the course.

To learn more, or to register for the event, click here: https://sites.uci.edu/safetyhealth/gracie-medical-defense-at-uci-health/

To set up a Gracie Medical Defense course at your Healthcare Institution, contact GMD@GracieUniversity.com