By EMS1 Staff
DUNWOODY, Ga. — After a video was released of an EMT punching a restrained teen patient in the back of an ambulance, city officials want out of their contract with American Medical Response.
City councilman Terry Nall said the Dunwoody police officer’s body cam footage of EMT Deannah Williams punching the 17-year-old patient in the face while he was restrained with handcuffs “was shocking,” according to FOX5.
“It was shocking, it was stunning, it’s something you’d think would be in another city, another part of the world,” Nall said.
Williams, who said she punched the teen because he spit in her face, was arrested, and AMR said she is no longer an employee. The city said the incident is not their first issue with the agency.
Nall said several complaints have been made about patient care, and response times have increased since 2016.
“We had a pedestrian struck on Tilly Mill Road May 16, we had a 58-minute response time from AMR,” Nall said.
The city now wants its own EMS certificate from the state so that it can break its contract between DeKalb County and AMR. Officials approved approaching the state about the issue in an unanimous vote.