Police were dispatched to a report of a pedestrian struck in the parking lot of the hospital.
Officers arrived to find an off-duty nurse, suffering severe traumatic injuries, barely clinging to life. Sources tell us the nurse, after just ending his 12-hour shift in the ED, was walking to his car, when he was run over by the suspected drunk driver.
Officers requested immediate ALS ambulances to the scene. Two EMS units were dispatched to the scene. One unit for the nurse, the other for the intoxicated driver…
The first unit tended to the nurse in critical condition and transported him across town to the trauma center.
As the second EMS crew assessed the driver, while in the back of the ambulance, the intoxicated male punched the paramedic in the face.
What crimes were committed?
Didn’t the same suspected drunk driver run over the nurse, and strike the paramedic?
What I am trying to point out with this fictitious story is that just because a person is intoxicated, it doesn’t excuse criminal activity.The driver would be charged for running over the nurse, and most certainly should be charged for assaulting the paramedic in the ambulance.
The officers don’t show up to the crash and say, “Sorry nurse dude… the guy didn’t mean it, he was drunk.” The fact the driver was intoxicated makes the crime… it doesn’t negate it.
High, drunk, or “crazy”… still have to answer for criminal activity. Assault/Battery is not a “part of the job.” It’s a crime. It is time we treat it as such.
We are making a real difference with culture change. You can help. Stand up for your rights, and tell your peers to do the same. We don’t give up our rights just because we are employed in medicine.