The incident occurred during the night of 24–25 March in an ambulance traveling along the A4 motorway in Legnica County. A patient suspected of having coronavirus attacked a 32-year-old paramedic with a knife, stabbing him several times.
“The man was being transported by ambulance to a psychiatric hospital. The ambulance had been called to him because of abnormal, psychotic behavior,” explains prosecutor Lidia Tkaczyszyn, press spokeswoman for the District Prosecutor’s Office in Legnica. So far, there is no information confirming that the suspect was infected with the virus.
The paramedics began defending themselves and pushed the aggressor out of the ambulance. He fled, but was detained after a police pursuit.
The attacked paramedic, a resident of Nowa Ruda (between Wałbrzych and Kłodzko), was taken to a hospital in Bolesławiec with numerous stab wounds to the chest and pneumothorax. He is isolated. His life is not in danger.
The Chojnów Medical Rescue Team reported the incident:
Attack on a paramedic! (By a patient suspected of having coronavirus!)
Tonight, 25 March 2020, the medical rescue team from Kłodzko, D01 10, was transporting a patient to an infectious psychiatric ward.
At approximately 2:00 a.m., a dramatic incident took place in an ambulance located at the 73rd kilometer of the A4 motorway. The paramedic was attacked with a knife by the patient. The ambulance stopped at an exit from the motorway. After striking the paramedic approximately eight times in the chest, the patient fled the ambulance, and the Police were notified.
D0215 teams from Legnica and D0217 from Chojnowska were dispatched to help the injured man. Then, after the Police closed the motorway and Fire Service units secured the scene, the Polish Medical Air Rescue helicopter “Ratownik 13” landed.
After the victim’s condition was stabilized, the injured paramedic was taken to the hospital in Bolesławiec, where he underwent surgery.
Piotrek is doing well.
The entire rescue community wishes him a speedy recovery!