Ambulance worker sacked after 'defending himself against aggressive patient'
An ambulance technician was sacked after restraining an allegedly aggressive patient he claims tried to punch him.
Joe Hemming held the drunken man's arm behind his back while still inside the emergency vehicle after arriving at A&E.
The dad-of-three was suspended and then had his employment terminated which led to him being kicked out of his home just before Christmas.
The 36-year-old went on to win a tribunal decision against his sacking - however, this is now being appealed by East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS).
The service claims it was not informed proceedings had opened, resulting in it missing the deadline to respond.
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Joe told the Mirror the self-defence protocols taught to ambulance staff are "not fit for purpose" and he was forced to go against his training to protect himself and the patient.
He said he and his colleagues are taught anti-aggravation protocol which says they can only to push an aggressor or pull away their arms.
The ambulance technician was forced out of his home at Christmas (James Turner/Lincolnshire Live)"It’s not fit for frontline staff in relation to what we deal with," he explained.
"That training given is more for like dementia patients, elderly patients who try to bite, who try to pinch you.
"The training that we should have is control and restraint which is trained to police and prison staff because we are dealing with violent patients who don’t care if they hurt you, they will continue to bite, kick, stab you, punch you, they don’t care."
Joe said he has previous training in the latter and instinctively used it.
Joe successfully appealed his sacking at a tribunal (James Turner/Lincolnshire Live)He said the patient had suffered a head injury and he was worried if he pushed him back he could fall and hit his head, which could have proved fatal.
Joe, who worked as an Emergency Medical Technician stationed at Grantham, Lincolnshire, was responding to the patient with a colleague on June 12, 2021.
He was driving back to hospital, with the patient in the back of the ambulance when the panic button was pushed because the man had "started to kick off".
Joe said he'd dealt with the same patient before and he'd previously been violent.
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Joe says ambulance staff need better self-defence training (James Turner/Lincolnshire Live)He was forced to pull over and went into the back of the ambulance.
"I went in with a short sharp burst of 'shut the f*** up, sit down' and it de-esculated the situation completely.
"I wouldn’t normally do it, in that situation I was on a live carriageway, I had to activate blue lights to pull over safely to assist my colleague because of the fear she was going to be assaulted."
Joe asked if his colleague would prefer to swap positions and she drive to A&E, but she said no.
Grantham Hospital in Lincolnshire (GOOGLE)"Once we got back to hospital and he heard the words ‘you are going to sit in the waiting room’ he instantly started to kick off again," he said.
"In an ambulance you have a side door and a back door... My back was to the side door, it was closed, I had nowhere to go, he had two ways to go either get up and turn left and go down the ramp or get up and turn right towards me.
"When he got up he turned right towards me and was making comments about 'I can show you how I can start', went to punch me with his left arm and obviously that’s when I had to restrain to stop any assault taking place."
Joe said he held the man's arm behind his back for around 30 seconds and led him inside the hospital.
Joe had to initially pull over on the roadside after the panic button was pushed (stock image) (Getty Images/iStockphoto)He then filled out a report of the incident, but says when senior management at East Midlands Ambulance Service reviewed the CCTV they felt he had "used excessive force, and not the training supplied", he says.
"This is my main argument, how can they say when I had to make a split second decision, fight or flight, nowhere to escape, I didn’t want to be assaulted.
"He had a head injury, if I’d pushed him as per my training he would have sustained further head injury, which potentially could have killed him. I couldn’t do it.
"I went for the least restrictive option of putting his arm behind his back. I had control of his body, so I knew he couldn’t hurt himself or me."
EMAS is appealing the tribunal decision (Getty Images)Joe said neither the patient or his colleague put in a complaint but on July 8 that year he was formally suspended from his job.
He was then later told he was being let go completely.
"I had to leave my family home because when I left I had to claim Universal Credit, which informed my landlord," he explained.
He said his landlord said her mortgage company didn't allow for renters to be on benefits and he was left to find a new home within 28 days, with his children at the end of 2021.
In a decision document from the Employment Tribunals from March last year, seen by the Mirror, Joe was shown to have won his claim after the ambulance service didn’t respond in time.
It said: "The respondent has failed to present a valid response on time.
"The Employment Judge has decided that a determination can properly be made of the claim, or part of it, in accordance with rule 21 of the Rules of Procedure."
Joe said he was subsequently awarded £80,000 at a remedy hearing in June last year.
However, the decision is subject to an appeal from EMAS and he has not received any money.
Joe now works with a private ambulance company.
Tina Richardson, EMAS Deputy Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development told the Mirror: “EMAS did not receive the formal notification of the employment tribunal proceedings when the claim was started in January 2022.
"This resulted in EMAS not having an opportunity to provide a response or have representation at the hearing to support the formal processes and investigations at that time.
“Due to these mitigating circumstances, EMAS was given the opportunity to set out its full defence and the case will be heard later this year. Therefore, it is not appropriate to comment any further at this stage.”
The ambulance service say they encourage all staff to report any aggression and violence against them, and will work with the police where necessary to prosecute offenders. Body worn cameras are now common practice in the service, which it hopes will deter and de-escalate aggressive situations.
CCTV runs continuously inside the ambulance saloons once activated.
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