Sis 118, another attack on a nurse in Taranto

New case of assault on a 118 nurse. It happened in Taranto and Mario Balzanelli, director of the Set118 Department of Asl Taranto and national president of Sis118, reported it. "This morning - Balzanelli reports - the Taranto 118 Operations Center activated an emergency intervention in Lama, to a patient who had fallen ill due to acute abdominal pain. The Set118 ambulance from Taranto Talsano arrived very quickly, in about 7 minutes. A 60-year-old man was lying on the floor, awake, complaining of acute abdominal pain. Having noted the absence of the doctor, two middle-aged gentlemen who were on site at the patient's home began to curse, in very aggressive tones, for the lack of the doctor and then peremptorily ordered the nurse not to waste time in providing assistance, because it was - in their opinion - useless, and therefore to immediately transport the subject to the hospital. Despite the Nurse having replied by explaining that it was essential, in his view of competence, to detect the subject's vital parameters, contextualizing the need to immediately perform an electrocardiogram, which would be, moreover, it was assessed and reported remotely in telemedicine by a cardiologist, in order to exclude the presence of a heart attack, the level of aggression of the bystanders increased in an uncontrolled way. Unable to act safely due to the threatening climate, which was rapidly worsening, the nurse decided to take the patient by ambulance". One of the two bystanders, continues the president of Sis 118, "however, punched the nurse in the face, hitting him in the cheekbone and jaw. The attacked nurse, meritoriously, with great firmness and professionalism, did not react and finished not only the rescue operation but also his shift, avoiding interruptions. Upon arrival at the hospital, the Carabinieri intervened to verify what had happened". "What happened - says Balzanelli - highlights, once again, the level of significant danger of our work. We ask for the most rigorous application of the law, which provides, in the event of attacks on healthcare personnel, arrest, even in deferred flagrante delicto. It is not possible to work every day in these absurd conditions. Solidarity with the nurse, so absurdly and violently attacked. I thank the General Director of the ASL of Taranto, Vito Gregorio Colacicco, for his immediate solidarity, and to whom I have asked to purchase, for the exclusive purposes of protection in such contexts, the body-cams, equipping all the operators of the Set118 Taranto. Finally, recognize all the operators of the Territorial Emergency System 118, the specific environmental and biological risk allowances, requested by Sis118 since 2017".