Raed Arafat condemns the assault on UPU doctors and calls for zero tolerance for violence: “Doctors, assistants, paramedics, firefighters are not targets”

The head of the Department for Emergency Situations (DSU), Raed Arafat, reacted after the recent cases of aggression against doctors in Borșa and Târgu Jiu, qualifying the incidents as “unacceptable” and affirming zero tolerance for any form of violence directed against medical personnel.

Arafat reacted after recent cases of aggression. PHOTO: Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea

Raed Arafat pointed out that doctors were physically assaulted right in the resuscitation rooms, at critical moments, while trying to save lives. The conflicts started from the refusal of the medical teams to allow access to the relatives in the resuscitation spaces, a decision that is not arbitrary, but a basic medical rule, intended to protect the patient and allow the effective intervention of the staff.

“Striking a doctor while he is fighting to save a life is an act of extreme violence. But it is also an act of irresponsibility that endangers the very patient you claim to be fighting for.” the head of DSU sent on Facebook.

The reaction comes in the context of an incident that happened on Monday at the Târgu Jiu County Emergency Hospital, where a doctor was assaulted by a relative of a patient at the Emergency Unit. The hospital management stated that the patient became agitated during the medical procedures, and the family members entered the medical space without authorization. The doctor slipped and injured his leg.

Another case took place on Friday evening in Borșa, where, according to IPJ Maramureș, the police were alerted by calling 112 after a doctor was assaulted while giving first aid to a patient. The investigation showed that several members of the patient's family entered the room, and one of them allegedly physically assaulted the doctor. The medical staff refused to issue a temporary protection order, and investigations continue under the coordination of a prosecutor, for hitting or other violence and destruction.

Raed Arafat drew attention to the increase in aggression towards medical personnel, a phenomenon fueled by misinformation and judgments made without knowing the facts.

He recalled that the doctors and assistants of the UPU are often the same professionals who intervene on SMURD ambulances and helicopters, in serious accidents, fires or disasters, risking their lives to save others.

“Few people know that UPU doctors and nurses are often the same people who get on the ambulances and SMURD helicopters. They are the ones who intervene in serious accidents, fires, disasters. People who risk their lives to save the lives of others. They are not anonymous officials. They are professionals who choose, day by day, to be there when things are the most difficult.

I'm not saying there can't be problems. There may be situations of poor communication, there may be behaviors that need to be corrected. But these are resolved through legal and institutional means, not through violence. And I am convinced that we are talking about exceptions, not the rule. (…) Behind the gown or intervention equipment is not the “system”, but a man. A man with a family, with accumulated fatigue, with difficult decisions to make. Assaulting a medical staff on duty seriously breaks the relationship of trust between society and those who take care of it”, the DSU chief also said, asking the hospital managers to ensure adequate security in the UPU and CPU.

Raed Arafat conveyed that any grievance can be reported through legal channels and will be seriously analyzed, but violence is not and will never be a solution.

“My position is very clear: Zero tolerance for violence, especially when it is directed against rescuers. We have an obligation to take a stand and act, not only through legal sanctions, which exist and are severe, but also through a firm public message >>> “Doctors, nurses, paramedics, firefighters are not targets, just like policemen or gendarmes are not.” Any complaints can be raised through legal channels and will be seriously considered. Violence is not and will never be a solution,” concluded Raed Arafat.