A nurse in Utah, Alex Wubbels, was arrested on July 26 after she refused to provide a blood sample of an unconscious patient.
Salt Lake City police made the arrest after the nurse refused to give the blood sample to the officers. By law, Nurse Wobbles’ is not allowed to release patient’s blood without consent from the patient or a warrant from law enforcement.
A video released from one of the officer’s body camera captured the whole scene. The video shows the nurse on the phone with her supervisor, trying to explain why she cannot take the patient’s blood. After the call, an officer drags the nurse outside and places handcuffs on her.
According to CNN, the chief of Salt Lake City police department, Dale Trophy, said he was “alarmed” by what took place in the video.
Brophy also went on to say the arrest was “mishandled” and “inappropriate.”
The video shows someone that is doing her job correctly being threatened, restricted and physically pushed out of the hospital.
Wubbels followed typical procedure and obeyed the rights of the patient. The patient was in a fiery automobile accident and the police needed the blood to see if the patient was the victim.
Salt Lake City police officer Jeff Payne and a second unnamed officer were placed on paid administrative leave on Friday, Sept. 1, according to the Chronicle.
“The police should take more peaceful measures in situations like this, so the same mistake is not happening again,” Gerald Healey, a sophomore at Cabrini studying accounting, said.
A lot of people believe paid leave is too weak for what the officers did to this hard-working nurse.
Over 100 people protested outside of police headquarters to voice the same opinion as Healey.
“The police were flat-out wrong, the nurse was just doing what she was told to do,” John Malone, a Cabrini University sophomore, said.
“You are making a big mistake threatening a nurse,” Wubbels’ supervisor is heard saying during the phone call.
After the officer heard that remark from the supervisor, he took actions into his own hands and grabbed the nurse while saying, “We are done here you are under arrest.”
“Incidents with police happen too recently in today’s society, obviously the police were wrong, the nurse did her job,” Josh Mungin, a sophomore at Cabrini, said. Mungin went on to describe the situation as “scary.”
This incident has changed the rules when dealing with law enforcement wanting blood samples from patients, according to CNN.
Following this event, it was announced that any law enforcement officials wanting blood samples or any other sample will be sent to discuss the matter with a senior hospital administration outside of patient care.
The hospital realized this incident could have been non-existent, so they regulated rules to ensure this never happens again. In today’s society, everyone is put under a microscope, so the incident involving nurse Wobbles could have been dealt properly. Everyone is very confident she did the right thing.
“It’s so blatantly obvious what was right and what was wrong, and I was not wrong,” Wubbels said in an interview with CBS news.
