ICU Nurse Assaulted by Police Thugs While Treating Patient
Alex Wubbels, an ICU nurse in the Burn Unit, was assaulted and falsely arrested for refusing a blood draw blood on her comatose patient. She was handcuffed and dragged out of the hospital screaming by police detectives while video cameras recorded the event.
State and constitutional law is very clear that blood samples may not be obtained without satisfying one of three criteria, 1) the patient is under arrest, 2) the patient gives consent, or 3) there is a warrant for the procedure. Since the police officer admitted none of these criteria were fulfilled, the nurse stood her ground and refused the blood draw on her comatose patient.
Above image: Angry protesters assembled in front of Salt Lake Police Department demanding that Detective Jeff Payne be fired for arresting without cause and manhandling ICU nurse Alex Wubbels. Courtesy of Salt Lake tribune.
The video from the police body camera, (now public domain), clearly shows the police office assaulting and manhandling the nurse who is led away in handcuffs screaming. The hospital security police stood by without lifting a finger to protect the ICU nurse from the overly aggressive police officer.
Utah Nurse DRAGGED out of Hospital by Police ‘This isn’t right”
In her interview, Alex Wubbels, the ICU nurse was incredibly restrained saying, “The police should be respectful of health care workers”. In the old days when I worked the emergency room, and occasionally did procedures in the ICU, this type of event was unheard of, and it would be unthinkable this would ever happen. The police were very respectful of health care workers in the hospital for a very good reason. They knew they could easily be injured on duty, and they relied on the Emergency Room staff to save their lives. In the event of a gunshot injury or trauma, ER health care could be depended upon. Police department chief Mike Brown reiterated this sentiment in his public statement :
“We know that if we are ever hurt in the line of duty, it is their (the ER nurses) caring hands that will perhaps save our lives one day.”
Obviously, times have changed. This lack of respect for health care workers by the police is a danger sign for our society and culture. When health care workers can be intimidated, assaulted and falsely arrested by the police, then all of us are at risk. This type of incident really worries me because it may represent a marker for a general trend toward greater militarization of the police, increased police use of force, increased police killings, and increased police action claims and settlements (see charts below with this data). This is not good and we need to reverse this trend before it becomes too late..
Below Image : In this July 26, 2017, frame grab from video taken from a police body camera and provided by attorney Karra Porter, nurse Alex Wubbels is arrested by a Salt Lake City police officer at University Hospital in Salt Lake City. The officer dragged Wubbels out of the hospital in handcuffs (screaming) when she refused to allow blood to be drawn from an unconscious patient. (Salt Lake City Police Department/Courtesy of Karra Porter via AP)
Who Are the Winners and Losers?
The obvious winner here is Alex Wubbels, the ICU nurse who will no doubt eventually collect 10 million dollars in damages from the city. The assumption here is that the police department carries insurance for this type of thing. As for the two police officers in question who were given administrative leave, Detective Jeff Payne and Lt. James Tracy, they may no longer be popular with their fellow officers who go out into the field every day wondering if the ER staff will react unfavorably when they arrive needing medical care. These are the big losers in all this.
Make a few calls and send a few emails to express your feelings:
Gov. Gary Herbert
send an email to the Governor https://www.utah.gov/governor/contact/
The Office of Governor Gary R. Herbert
350 North State Street, Suite 200
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
Phone: 801-538-1000
Toll Free: 800-705-2464
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill
email: districtattorney@slco.org.
Mayor Jackie Biskupski
http://www.slcmayor.com/contact/
801-535-7704
mayor@slcgov.com
Chief of Police Mike Brown
askthechief@slcgov.com
The two police officers in question who were given leave:
Detective Jeff Payne and Lt. James Tracy
Above Left Image: Use of Force Arrests Have Skyrocketed in Salt lake City: This is not an isolated incident.
Left Image: Police Action Claims and Settlements Going Up in NYC
This is not an isolated incident.
……..
Above Left Image Killings by Police Going UP Dramatically. This is not an isolated incident.
Jeffrey Dach MD
7450 Griffin Road Suite 190
Davie, Fl 33314
954-792-4663
Links and References
Washington Post Story on ICU Nurse Arrested
By all accounts, the head nurse at the University of Utah Hospital’s burn unit was professional and restrained when she told a Salt Lake City police detective he wasn’t allowed to draw blood from a badly injured patient.
The detective didn’t have a warrant, first off. And the patient wasn’t conscious, so he couldn’t give consent. Without that, the detective was barred from collecting blood samples — not just by hospital policy, but by basic constitutional law.
Still, Detective Jeff Payne insisted that he be let in to take the blood, saying the nurse would be arrested and charged if she refused.
Nurse Alex Wubbels politely stood her ground. She got her supervisor on the phone so Payne could hear the decision loud and clear. “Sir,” said the supervisor, “you’re making a huge mistake because you’re threatening a nurse.”
Payne snapped. He seized hold of the nurse, shoved her out of the building and cuffed her hands behind her back. A bewildered Wubbels screamed “help me” and “you’re assaulting me” as the detective forced her into an unmarked car and accused her of interfering with an investigation.
‘This is crazy,’ sobs Utah hospital nurse as cop roughs her up, arrests her for doing her job
By Derek Hawkins September 2 at 12:16 AM
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-utah-nurse/utah-nurse-claims-police-assault-after-she-refused-patient-blood-sample-idUSKCN1BC57X
Utah nurse claims police assault after she refused patient blood sample Reuters Staff
A nurse at a Utah hospital was assaulted by a police officer last month after declining to allow him to obtain a sample of an unconscious patient’s blood because he had neither a warrant nor the patient’s consent, media reported.
Prosecutors in Utah will consider criminal charges against the officer, an official said on Friday.
Video of the July 26 incident from Salt Lake City police officers’ body-worn cameras showed Alex Wubbels, dressed in blue medical scrubs, consulting with colleagues before showing the waiting officers a printout of the University of Utah Hospital’s policy on providing blood samples to test for alcohol or drugs.
The patient was a truck driver who was comatose when he was brought to the hospital burns unit after a crash with a vehicle being driven by someone fleeing police, the Deseret News reported.
Wubbels explained to the officers that under the policy, which she said was agreed to by the police department, she would need a warrant, the patient’s consent or the patient would need to be under arrest.
Utah Nurse DRAGGED out of Hospital by Police ‘This isn’t right”
KUTV exclusive interview with U of U nurse
“The police should be respectful of health care workers”
Detective Jeff Payne: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
A nurse says she was assaulted and illegally arrested by a Salt Lake City police detective for following a hospital policy that does not allow blood draws from unconscious patients.
Footage from University Hospital and officer body cameras shows Detective Jeff Payne and nurse Alex Wubbels in a standoff over whether the policeman should be allowed to get a blood sample from a patient who had been injured in a July 26 collision in northern Utah that left another driver dead.
Wubbels says blood cannot be taken from an unconscious patient unless the patient is under arrest, unless there is a warrant allowing the draw or unless the patient consents. The detective acknowledges in the footage that none of those requirements is in place, but he insists that he has the authority to obtain the draw, according to the footage.
At one point, Payne threatens to take Wubbels to jail if he doesn’t get the sample, and he accuses her of interfering with a criminal case.
“I either go away with blood in vials or body in tow,” Payne says.
After Wubbels consults with several hospital officials and repeats the policy, Payne tells her she is under arrest and grabs her, pulling her arms behind her back and handcuffing her. The footage shows the detective dragging Wubbels out of the hospital and putting her inside a patrol car as she screams, “Help! Help! Somebody help me! Stop! Stop! I did nothing wrong!”
A University of Utah police officer and other officers, who provide security for the hospital, were present at time of the arrest and did not intervene.
As he stands in the hospital parking lot after the arrest, Payne says to another officer that he wonders how this event will affect an off-duty job transporting patients for an ambulance company.
“I’ll bring them all the transients and take good patients elsewhere,” Payne says.
Officer placed on leave as DA launches criminal investigation into arrest of Utah nurse
Posted 3:24 pm, September 1, 2017, by Mark Green, Updated at 08:09PM, September 1, 2017
How Many Americans Do the Cops Kill Each Year?
By Daniel Bier On 7/16/16 at 11:00 AM
NYC to Step Up Defense of Police Misconduct Cases
The filing of police brutality, and the Violation of Civil Rights, cases against the City of New York, have been on the rise in recent years. Now the legal division of the City, the Corporation Counsel, is forming a new legal task force to more diligently fight what the consider those case they consider without merit or frivolous. In the past, according to the City’s top lawyer, the City was more likely to settle those cases for small amounts rather than fight them. This graph clearly shows the rise in cases arising from police misconduct and the increased payout by the City to settle them.
Police Chief Interview
SLC mayor, police chief apologize for officer who arrested nurse; criminal investigation to follow
Police department places two officer on leave as internal investigation continues.
Gov. Gary Herbert
send an email to the Governor
https://www.utah.gov/governor/contact/
The Office of Governor Gary R. Herbert
350 North State Street, Suite 200
PO Box 142220
Salt Lake City, Utah 84114-2220
Phone: 801-538-1000
Toll Free: 800-705-2464
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill
email: districtattorney@slco.org.
Mayor Jackie Biskupski
http://www.slcmayor.com/contact/
801-535-7704
mayor@slcgov.com
Chief Mike Brown
askthechief@slcgov.com
The two police officer in question who were suspended
Detective Jeff Payne
Lt. James Tracy
link to this article: http://wp.me/p3gFbV-5be
Jeffrey Dach MD
7450 Griffin Road, Suite 190
Davie, Fl 33314
954-792-4663
www.jeffreydachmd.com
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