Video shows a Utah nurse being arrested for refusing to draw blood from an unconscious patient
SALT LAKE CITY – A Utah police officer’s body camera video shows a hospital nurse being handcuffed after refusing to draw blood on an unconscious patient.
The video taken at University Hospital in Salt Lake City on July 26 shows nurse Alex Wubbels calmly explaining to Salt Lake detective Jeff Payne that she couldn’t draw blood on a patient who had been injured in a car accident. She told the officer a patient was required to give consent for a blood sample or be under arrest. Otherwise, she said police needed a warrant.
Wubbels calmly points out to Payne that these parameters were are spelled out in an agreement between the hospital and the department.
CBS affiliate KUTV reports that Wubbles had the backing of her bosses, one of them was on the phone with her and could be heard on the video telling Det. Payne, “Sir you are making a huge mistake right now because you are threatening a nurse.”
Despite the warning, Payne is heard saying, “We are done, we are done, you are under arrest.”
He can then be seen grabbing Wubbels and cuffing her as she screams, “You’re assaulting me stop! I’ve done nothing wrong! This is crazy! This is crazy!”
In the video Payne’s partner could be heard trying to calm his partner down during the arrest.
Another officer is heard saying, “I don’t think this arrest is going to stick.”
“I think there was definitely some alarm, ” said Sgt. Brandon Shearer with the Salt Lake City Police Department about what happened. “We’ve been working with Ms. Wubbels and her attorney to make sure steps necessary so that something like this doesn’t happen in the future.”
KUTV reports that Shearer says an internal investigation is now underway. He says Payne has been suspended from drawing blood, but no disciplinary action has been taken against him. He says that will all be resolved after the investigation is complete.
Wubbels says she’s very upset that none of the University of Utah officers came to her rescue and just stood by and watched it happen.
“I just feel betrayed, I feel angry and I feel a lot of things, ” said Wubbels during a press conference. “The only job I have is to keep my patient safe. Blood is your blood that is your property. When a patient comes in a critical state that blood is extremely important. I don’t take it lightly.”
