By Mitch Hotts
The Macomb Daily
CENTER LINE, Mich. — A longtime Macomb County-based ambulance company is investigating after cellphone video allegedly shows an attendant punching a patient on a gurney being loaded into a rig.
Universal Ambulance Services of Sterling Heights said the images on the video are “very concerning.”
The incident reportedly happened Friday morning on Loretta Avenue near Orr Avenue, in the area of 10 Mile and Ryan roads, in Center Line.
In the video, two first emergency medical technicians are seen escorting a gurney to a Universal Ambulance parked on the street. The patient appears to lift their right hand toward an EMT, who seems to respond with a short overhand right punch.
In a statement, the company says it is still collecting information, but officials are taking the incident “extremely seriously.”
“We were informed of this incident late Friday evening and began an investigation immediately,” Duncan Walker, general manager, said in the statement.
“We want to get all the information that’s available regarding what happened, so that the appropriate steps can be taken next. The role of First Responders is both extremely difficult and of critical importance to the safety of the community, but with high standards that should not and cannot be compromised. Above all, our role is to provide life-saving medical care to patients in their most difficult moments regardless of the circumstances.”
The reason for the patient run on Friday was not made public and it’s not known whether the patient was injured in the dustup.
Center Line police on Sunday referred requests for comment to the administration on Monday.
But the woman who obtained the video said she was “infuriated” by what she saw.
“I’ve been a nurse for 16 plus years, and I’ve endured a lot of physical abuse, emotional abuse, verbal abuse, kicked on, spit on, called names, and I’ve never physically put my hands on my patients,” the woman told Fox 2-TV (WJBK) and was identified only as “Aimee.”
Aimee, who has worked as a nurse for 16 years herself, said she received the cellphone images from her daughter.
According to its website, Universal Ambulance Service is a privately-held, family-owned corporation owned by members of the Walker families. Found in Detroit in the 1950s, Universal has served residents, municipalities, hospitals, and nursing facilities in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties for over 65 years.
___
(c)2023 The Macomb Daily, Mount Clemens, Mich.
Visit The Macomb Daily, Mount Clemens, Mich. at https://www.macombdaily.com/
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.