By EMS1 Staff
NEW YORK — An FDNY EMT was assaulted by a mentally ill patient during transport Sunday, leaving her with numerous injuries to her face.
Tara Reyes, 33, was in the back of an ambulance with patient Luca Didonato when he punched her in the face and repeatedly hit her in the head and back with a tablet, reported the New York Daily News.
Reyes said the 27-year-old patient suddenly unbuckled his seatbelt and attacked her. Didonato grabbed one of the ambulance’s tablets from Reyes and began hitting her with it.
“I didn’t even have time to get any words out, he just punched me in the face with his fist,” Reyes said. Her partner, Leo Ospini, who was driving the ambulance, quickly pulled over and took Didonato out of the ambulance.
Reyes sustained multiple contusions and cuts on her face. Her hands were also swollen from protecting her face from the impact of the tablet.
“I’m just grateful Leo was there and helped me,” Reyes said. “He’s a big guy, but not everyone would jump in -- some would have waited for more help to arrive.”
Prior to transporting Didonato from a mental facility, Reyes asked him several questions to decide if he was safe to transport. After crews told police they did not need an escort, they left the facility.
“It’s at our discretion to ask NYPD for an escort or not, they always come if we ask, but in this case it didn’t seem necessary,” Reyes said.
Following the assault, other EMS crews quickly responded to the scene and transported Reyes to the hospital; she was diagnosed with a concussion and later released.
Police charged Didonato with second-degree assault.
“It was the most frightening thing that’s happened to me in six years as an EMT,” Reyes said. “I really love my job, but sometimes people don’t understand how hard it is to do the work we do.”