Marietta Daily Journal
COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A paramedic is facing criminal charges after being accused of pinching a patient’s nostrils shut at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital last month.
Justine Spatz, 33, of Woodstock, is being charged with simple battery and reckless conduct.
Around 11:30 p.m. March 28, an officer was notified by Kennestone medical staff that a patient was assaulted, per the arrest warrant.
The officer interviewed the victim, who disclosed that Spatz—with MetroAtlanta Ambulance—had “obstructed her nostrils” as she was being transported from her home to the hospital’s emergency department.
Spatz allegedly pinched the victim’s nostrils shut a second time while at the hospital, the warrant reads.
Following the interview, the officer reviewed the hospital’s video footage from around 9:30 p.m. and allegedly saw Spatz “pinch the victim’s nostrils shut for approximately 28 seconds.”
Spatz was arrested April 16. She was held at the Cobb County Adult Detention Center for one day before being released on $2,970 bail.
MetroAtlanta Ambulance’s Public Information Officer Dennis Westover told the MDJ the company was taking the situation “very seriously.”
According to Westover, the situation was “promptly reviewed” by the company’s Continuous Quality Improvement Training Department. The results of the preliminary investigation were then forwarded to their medical director’s office “for further review and opinion.”
“At this time, we are waiting to hear back from the company’s medical director’s office,” Westover said. “The employee involved has been placed on unpaid administrative leave pending the outcome of the full investigation.”
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