An aggressive patient has attacked a nurse, an ambulanceman and a trainee from the Jessa Hospital in Hasselt (Limburg). The team had been called out to attend to an unconscious man. When the latter regained consciousness, he accused the emergency workers of theft and started hitting them. A local resident had to intervene and restrain the man while waiting for the police.
The incident happened last Thursday, at the bus terminus in Alken (Limburg). A passenger lost consciousness. An ambulance was called from the Jessa Hospital in Hasselt. Emergency workers were able to help the man to regain consciousness, but he immediately became aggressive.
‘The man started shouting. He had lost his jacket and mobile phone and claimed that the emergency workers had stolen them,’ explained Lieve Ketelslegers of the Jessa Hospital. ‘He then became violent. He went on a violent rampage, slightly injuring the emergency workers in the process. It left quite an impression on them.’
Emergency workers often become victims of violence. ‘Far too often,’ Ms Ketelslegers continues. ‘Every week there is some kind of incident involving one of our emergency nurses. It usually involves verbal violence and usually the perpetrators are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but that was not the case here.’ Eventually, a local resident helped to restrain the aggressive individual until the police arrived.
‘Obviously, an incident like that is not acceptable and we have filed a complaint with the police,’ the hospital spokesperson responds. The paramedic, the nurse and the trainee will be given a change of work for 2 weeks to allow them to get over the incident.