Gracie Medical Defense®

Gracie Medical Defense was built to change that.

What Is Gracie Medical Defense?

Gracie Medical Defense® (GMD) is a complete workplace violence prevention program developed specifically for healthcare environments by Gracie University. It is built on principles of personal safety and non-violent effectiveness refined over three generations of the Gracie family — and adapted specifically for the unique challenges of clinical settings, where patient safety is always the priority alongside staff safety.

GMD is not a generic self defence program rebranded for hospitals. Every element of the curriculum was developed from the ground up for healthcare realities: including the tight confines of an ambulance, the behavioural complexity of psychiatric units, and the legal and policy constraints that govern how healthcare staff can respond to aggression.

The Gracie Medical Defense (GMD) curriculum covers:

• Situational awareness — recognizing the five stages of agitation before a situation becomes physical
• Verbal de-escalation — communication, empathy, and de-escalatory language proven to reduce the intensity of conflict
• Physical de-escalation — leverage-based techniques for the most common threats faced by healthcare staff, prioritizing patient safety at every step
• SafeWrap® — a proprietary 2-on-1 restraint method that minimizes injury risk to both staff and patients

Institutional recognition: GMD is the only workplace safety program reviewed and approved by the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF). It fully complies with NFPA 455 standards for EMS Medical Self-Defense Training. It has been adopted by UC Davis Health, UCI Health, and other major North American healthcare institutions.

Gracie University provides expert witness support to certified staff if litigation arises from use of a GMD technique — a level of institutional commitment no comparable program offers.

Who Gracie Medical Defense Is For

• Hospital nursing and clinical staff
• Emergency department personnel
• Behavioural health and psychiatric unit staff
• EMTs, paramedics, and firefighters
• Hospital security and workplace violence prevention teams
• Healthcare executives responsible for staff safety and compliance

The SafeWrap® System

SafeWrap is the physical restraint component of GMD — a proprietary 2-on-1 method specifically designed to safely secure a patient or individual while minimizing the risk of injury to all parties. Unlike conventional restraint approaches, SafeWrap is calm in appearance, effective without strength, and designed to hold up under both medical scrutiny and legal review.

SafeWrap is also used across law enforcement, corrections, school security, and other public sector settings. It is rapidly becoming a recognized standard for safe, humane restraint across North America.

How North Vancouver Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Fits In

NVGJJ is a Gracie University Certified Training Center serving the North Vancouver community. We are a local connection point for healthcare professionals who want to learn more about Gracie Medical Defense.

If you are a nurse, physician, paramedic, EMT, firefighter, or other healthcare professional and you've seen what workplace aggression looks like firsthand — we invite you to come in for a private SafeWrap demonstration. No commitment, no cost. Just an opportunity to experience the system and decide whether it could make a difference for your team.

If after seeing SafeWrap you believe GMD could benefit your organization, we will connect you directly with the Gracie Medical Defense team at Gracie University. From that point, they will lead all conversations with your workplace safety leadership to determine whether GMD is the right solution — and to build a training program tailored to your environment.

We will bring the program direct to your door or host you at our facility.

For Healthcare Professionals Already Training at NVGJJ

If you train with us and work in healthcare, we'd love to talk. The most powerful introductions to GMD happen through people who already know and trust the Gracie approach.

Come find us after class.