SINGAPORE: As a frontline officer with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), Corporal (CPL) Timothy Chua responds to calls for medical assistance. But in the line of duty, he’s had to put up with violent behaviour from the very person who requested for help.
Last October, a patient brandished a walking stick and flung a packet of food at him twice in the ambulance.
AdvertisementIt was one of the growing number of reported abuses cases against frontline officers in the last three years.
There have been 26 cases so far this year, said SCDF on Thursday (Dec 13), up from 23 cases in 2017 and 20 in 2016.
For CPL Chua, who was then a full-time national serviceman, the incident did not deter him from signing on with the SCDF.
“For me, this patient was more of an extreme case,” recalled the 24-year-old emergency medical technician. “It’s just part of my job to treat patients.”
AdvertisementAdvertisement“When we started helping the patient, this individual started using very crude words, vulgarities,” said Staff Sergeant (SSG) Chong Pei Yun who was part of the three-person crew attending to the case.
“I gave the patient the benefit of the doubt, thinking that maybe this person always talks like that and that is their normal self," she said.
During the ride to the hospital, the patient, who was on a stretcher, managed to reach for a packet of food and threw it at CPL Chua, hitting him on the chest. The patient repeated this before attempting to use a walking stick to hit him.
"The funny thing is we didn’t provoke the patient or anything, but this individual just wanted to hit us," recalled SSG Chong.
The patient also threatened to tell the hospital that it was SSG Chong who had caused the abuse.
"I ignored what the patient said, but after that I informed my supervisors immediately after we had handed over the patient,” she said.
A police report was made and the patient was later sentenced to 10 weeks’ jail.
“We try not to remember so much of the negative things," said SSG Chong. "Because along the line, there are still a lot of cases that are pretty heartwarming, so we try to remember those that are more positive instead of the negative ones.”
“ZERO TOLERANCE” TOWARDS ABUSE CASES
In another incident, Sergeant (SGT) Jeremy Liang was put in a headlock by a patient who was being taken to hospital.
SGT Liang and two other frontline officers had responded to a call about a person lying by the side of the road. Just as the ambulance was about to leave for the hospital, the patient reached out from the stretcher to throw a punch one of the responders.
“It took us off guard. It happened all of a sudden,” recalled SGT Liang. "I can’t remember what exactly provoked him ... We were actually doing our own job thenthe patient started throwing vulgarities at us."
SGT Liang intervened and was put in a headlock for "five to 10 seconds" before he wrestled free.
"We (eventually) managed to warn the patient," said SGT Liang. "As a crew leader, I needed to be stern. I raised my voice a little bit and said that if that continues, I will have to stop at the roadside and inform a police officer because that’s our protocol. When I mentioned calling the police, the patient held back."
SGT Liang continued with his duties until the end of his shift before making a police report.
“There was a bit of redness over here (on my neck), that’s why it was initially a bit painful," he added. "(But) we continued to bring him to the hospital despite all these things. No matter what, that isstill my patient.”
[h=3]READ ALSO: SCDF asks public to 'have a heart' after 16 abuse cases against officers so far this year[/h]The SCDF said it has zero tolerance towards such cases of abuse.
"Our emergency responders have the public at heart and will always do their best in our mission to protect and save lives and property," said director of operations department Assistant Commissioner (AC) Daniel Seet. "While most people appreciate what we do, there is unfortunately a minority that will physically or verbally abuse our frontliners.
"The SCDF will strive to protect our officers against such unacceptable behaviour, which hinders them from carrying out their duties and can delay the medical treatment of patients. We have zero-tolerance towards this, and will not hesitate to report it to the police."
Despite the risk of abuse, frontline officers said they will continue to do their jobs to the best of their abilities.
“I like the job. I don’t feel discouraged by incidents like this,” said CPL Chua. “To me that patient's attitude was like that, but it doesn't mean I will look at others differently now."
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