Police are clarifying the details of a violent assault on paramedics during a suspect arrest Monday afternoon.
READ MORE: Man charged in Deerfoot incident that left 3 first responders injured
Two Calgary paramedics were taken to hospital following a crash on Deerfoot Trail on Monday. Sources told Global News one medic was hit by a Taser deployed by a police officer.
On Tuesday, police said in fact, two medics came into contact with the Tasers as part of an attempt to subdue an assault suspect.
The paramedics were responding to a crash in the northbound lanes between 17 Avenue S.E. and Memorial Drive at around 4 p.m.
In a Monday news release, police said first responders arriving at the scene were confronted by a “combative man” who had been involved in the crash.
Police said multiple EMS, Calgary Police Service (CPS) and Calgary Fire Department (CFD) members tried to restrain the combative man, but were unsuccessful.
According to the release, police attempted to use a conducted energy weapon on the man, but it had little effect.
“It is not known why the patient was combative,” the news release stated. “He was transported to hospital after being sedated.”
In the news release, police said that one paramedic “sustained serious injuries in the altercation and was transported to hospital in non-life-threatening condition.”
Police didn’t initially explain how the paramedic was injured, telling Global News early Tuesday that a paramedic at the scene came into contact with the wires of a Taser after it had been deployed. They disputed any injuries occurred. The spokesperson also disputed that the paramedic who came into contact with the conducted energy weapon was the paramedic transported to hospital.
Alberta Health Services EMS declined to comment on how the paramedics were injured.
Later Tuesday, police released a statement saying one paramedic was “actively assaulted” and received head injuries from the suspect during a struggle within his vehicle.
CPS said a second paramedic continued to struggle with the suspect before “multiple” police officers arrived to help. Three officers discharged their Tasers to try to stop the attack on the medics.
“It is believed the second medic inadvertently touched the wires of a discharged conducted energy weapon (CEW), resulting in a small shock,” CPS wrote in the statement.
“The paramedic who inadvertently touched the wires of the CEW was later transported to hospital for precautionary measures as a result of the assault against him by the suspect.”
Police said a Taser probe was also found on the medic who suffered head injuries, but it was unclear if it was from “deployment” or “indirect contact as a result of his struggle with the suspect.”
“At this time it is believed that neither paramedic was hit by a direct CEW deployment during the incident,” police said. “Their contact was indirect, as part of the ongoing struggle.”
WATCH: Alberta Minister of Health, Sarah Hoffman, says there will be an investigation after two paramedics and a police officer were taken to hospital Monday.
A spokesperson from the provincial police watchdog Alberta Serious Incident Response Team (ASIRT) said Tuesday they had not been asked to investigate the incident.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, Health Minister Sarah Hoffman said there would be a review of what happened, referring to an internal review and participation in the CPS investigation.
“We commend all paramedics for stepping up in the case of tragedy, but we also need to make sure we’ve got their backs,” Hoffman said. “We’ll continue to do an investigation and ensure we have the right information to make things better moving forward.
“We’ll continue to follow the typical process to make sure everyone has the confidence that when they report to work, all precautions are being taken within reason to keep them safe,” Hoffman said.
The executive director of the Alberta Paramedic Association said incidents involving violence and threats against paramedics are a growing problem and called for self-defence training for members Tuesday morning.
“Assault on paramedics is becoming far too common and preparing paramedics for hand-to-hand combat with self-defence training is a short-term but important solution,” Mark Moebius said in a statement. “Tougher laws and increased zero-tolerance awareness will support a paramedic culture that does not accept threats or violence.”
He acknowledged members accept a certain level of personal risk when attending calls for reports of things like broken glass, traffic and pets, but said assault should not be a part of the job.
Listen below: Health Sciences Association of Alberta president Mike Parker weighs in on the violent incidents faced by paramedics
AHS EMS Chief Paramedic Darren Sandbeck said a new non-violent critical incident training program is set to start in June.
“This mandatory two-day program replaces the current single-day training requirement and will be provided to all AHS EMS staff by the end of 2018,” reads a statement attributed to Sandbeck. “This program will provide the awareness, verbal and physical tools to help defuse potentially violent situations.”
With files from Global’s Mia Sosiak and News Talk 770’s John Himpe
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