Oristano: Volunteer hit with crutch by elderly man in emergency room

Attack in the emergency room of San Martino Hospital in Oristano. Two days ago, a local emergency worker and a nurse who intervened to help her were attacked by a patient.

It all happened in a matter of minutes. The patient had just arrived at the emergency room aboard a Sea 118 ambulance. He hadn't even gone through triage when the elderly man suddenly lunged at the operator, hitting her with a crutch. It was a tense moment, watched by the other patients in the waiting room; some nurses intervened to defend the operator, and one of them was also hit in the arm.

At that point, reinforcements arrived, the man was immobilized and sedated, while the remaining paramedics had to seek the care of their colleagues. Fortunately, neither suffered serious injuries; the prognosis was a few days, and the scare was huge.

The incident has brought renewed attention to the phenomenon of assaults on healthcare workers. "More and more often, we find ourselves dealing with highly tense situations and delicate cases," say emergency volunteers. In the past, physical and verbal assaults have occurred not only in the emergency room but also in the psychiatric and pediatric wards.

Following the incidents at San Martino, the Local Health Authority (ASL) had also called for greater respect for its staff. Courses were also organized for employees to manage aggressive behavior.