By Simpson Cheung
The South China Morning Post
The Fire Services Department will investigate three ambulance workers for roughly dragging a patient into and out of a lift as he lay on the floor, without using a stretcher or wheelchair.
The incident was caught on closed-circuit television at a residential building in a location that has not been specified.
The six minutes of footage, circulated online, shows three ambulancemen dragging a man into and out of a lift in a rough manner. The date on the video is March 23, this year. The footage initially shows the patient, apparently semi-conscious, in a wheelchair with three ambulancemen pushing him into a lift. The patient falls out of the chair at the lift entrance.
Screenshots from six minutes of closed-circuit TV footage show a semi-conscious patient being dragged along the floor.
The trio put away the chair and lie the patient down on the floor. One man drags the patient into the lift by his arms. Another man bends the patient’s legs to fit him into the lift.
All three ambulancemen then squeeze into the small lift, with the patient lying on the floor the entire time.
When they reached the ground floor, the patient was dragged out of the lift and left unattended on the floor of the lobby for at least a minute, before being put on a stretcher. James To Kun-sun, former chairman of the Legislative Council’s security panel, said it was obvious that the three ambulancemen had mistreated the patient and urged the department for an explanation.
“Their attitude was rude and showed no sympathy at all. Medical staff should show care to patients. But they did not care about the patient, and could have caused him even further harm,” To said.
A department spokesman said yesterday that the treatment of the patient deviated from standard procedures and did not comply with regulations.
It would conduct an investigation and take disciplinary action against officers found to have breached any rules, he said.
It is not known what illness the patient had.
Chan Shi-ki, chairman of the Fire Services Department Ambulancemen’s Union, said he could not comment on the three men’s behaviour since he was not at the scene.
“We treat patients equally, whether they are rich or poor,” Chan said.
Ambulance workers were normally required to buckle patients into wheelchairs with a safety belt, he said. Patients are not supposed to be dragged along the floor, and a mat must be used to lift them.
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