FDNY EMT Left with Broken Nose, Stitches after Patient Attack

June 1, 2021
An EMT was helping to treat an intoxicated patient in a Brooklyn emergency room when another man allegedly slammed the first responder into a plexiglass barrier.

An FDNY EMT was left with stitches and a broken nose after he was attacked at a Brooklyn hospital over the Memorial Day weekend.

The incident happened at around 9 p.m. Saturday while EMT Ricardo Cervoni was helping to treat an intoxicated patient in Woodhull Medical Center's emergency in the Bushwick neighborhood, the New York Daily News reports. That's when an agitated patient being treated for depression was brought to the ER by another EMS crew.

RELATED: 

The patient began yelling about not being given a bed, and he allegedly attacked Cervoni, whose back was turned at the time. The EMT's head was slammed against the metal frame of a plexiglass COVID-19 barrier. 

“He was screaming, ‘How long do I have to wait here? Where’s my bed?,’” Cervoni told the Daily News. "As soon as he was done with that, that’s when he shoved me. Prior to that I’d spoken no words to him. He was not my patient. I barely made eye contact with this guy."

Cervoni, 28, suffered a broken nose and cut over his left eye that gushed blood and required stitches. 

“It happened so quick that no one could react to what had happened,” he said. “All I heard was a thump.”

The patient—Jamaine Williams, 31—was arrested and charged with with assault on an EMT, menacing, harassment and obstructing governmental administration.

Although Cervoni— a March 2020 fire academy gradsaid similar ER incidents usually end with the patient calming down, Saturday's attack was another reminder of the increasing amount of assaults by patients. against FDNY EMS workers. Oren Barzilay, the head of the FDNY's EMS union, told the Daily News that it’s “open season for violent assaults” on his members, and New York City authorities need to have a zero tolerance stance when it comes to these incidents.

“This is becoming more and more common,” Cervoni said. “EMTs are robbed of our equipment. People are getting punched, banged, kicked — and dealing with these people who just don’t care about us even when we’re trying our best to help them.”

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Firehouse, create an account today!