Emergency medics in Sofia threaten mass resignations. The reason is the attack on the security guard on the first day of the new year and the measure of the person detained in the case, Nova TV reported.
The Sofia District Prosecutor's Office released the attacker from custody and charged him with minor bodily harm for hooligan motives. And this caused the dissatisfaction of the medics from the Emergency Center.
They say that the attacks against them are becoming more frequent, with 15 in the last year alone. That is why they intend to resign.
The definition of bodily harm is described in Section Two of the Criminal Code. It says that “Bodily injury is moderate if it is caused: ..... a broken jaw or knocked out teeth, without which chewing or speaking becomes difficult;”.
According to the forensic medical examination, the security guard has “slight bodily injury” – he was hit with fists and kicks, has two knocked out teeth and a wound on his chin.
For lawyers, however, this is “moderate bodily injury”.
“Knockout two teeth, especially when they are completely missing, almost always leads to loss of chewing ability or inability, making speaking or chewing difficult. In 99% of cases, this should be a moderate bodily injury, even if the tooth is partially broken,” says lawyer Rosen Rashkov.
Forensic doctors explain that their expert reports describe the patient's condition, but the result may change if the injuries continue to affect the health condition.
“Depending on each individual case, we, the forensic doctors, examining the patient, assess whether it is a case of a knocked-out tooth that really makes chewing and speaking difficult, i.e. a moderate bodily injury or a knocked-out tooth that had impaired chewing function even before the incident”, explained Assoc. Prof. Alexander Alexandrov, head of the forensic medicine clinic at the University Hospital “Alexandrovska”.
Established by decree of Tsar Boris III, the capital's “Ambulance” is the oldest emergency unit in Bulgaria and the second in Europe. 90 years after its establishment, however, it is at risk of being left without medics due to the increasing cases of attacks and aggression against them.
„The security guards were the first to gather and talk about the fact that they might leave en masse because they do not feel protected. Here, the work is a team and the teams as well, and all the employees of the Emergency Department, join them. I don't want it to get to that point”, said Katya Sungarska, spokesperson for the Sofia Central Emergency Medical Service.
This will lead to a lack of emergency care, because 80 emergency teams are needed for normal duty in Sofia, and currently only 12 are working.
“I believe that the time has come for the sanctions for such behavior to be drastically increased and applied with the full severity of the law”, said Katya Sungarska. And according to forensic doctors, changes are also needed in the Criminal Code “An update and a new interpretation of medico-biological qualifying signs should have been made a long time ago, such was done by lawyers in “the near” 1979”, said Assoc. Prof. Alexander Alexandrov.