Attacks on Doctors and Nurses

Not long ago there was another article in the Jordan Times about an attack on a doctor and a nurse at Al Bashir Hospital. Understandably emotions run high for people who have brought a family member to an emergency room. Watching helplessly while someone you care about is suffering is terrible; however, it is no excuse to become abusive, physically or verbally, toward a health worker. People actually attacked these two health workers because ------ ? Did they think that the care the patient received was too slow or negligent? Whatever their reason, physically attacking the doctor will not improve the situation for the patient, and any reasonable person must know that. What I found even stranger in the report was that the health worker would be arrested if the attacker raised a counter complaint. I have always understood that self defense is a universally accepted concept. In order to prevent the threat of our hospitals and clinics disintegrating into chaos, maybe more security personnel should visible.

ASH