A father and his 15-year-old son assaulted and threatened to kill four firefighters from the Ain region who were responding to a call regarding a woman who had taken an overdose of medication following an argument with her daughter.
When the emergency services arrived at the scene, the four SDIS 01 firefighters (driver, incident commander, crew member and trainee) took charge of the victim. Whilst the victim was being assessed, her husband considered a first-aid measure to be inappropriate. This sparked a heated altercation between the firefighters and the victim’s husband and son.
Three days off work for two firefighters
Despite the insults, the firefighters continued to administer first aid before transporting the victim to the nearest hospital. On arrival at A&E, a further altercation took place, during which the 15-year-old struck the fire chief twice in the face. He and his father then went on to insult and threaten two firefighters with death. The two firefighters who were most seriously injured were prescribed three days’ sick leave.
“Increasingly, society has become a consumer-driven culture, with the result that the majority of people calling for emergency assistance believe they are entitled to everything and that we are there to cater to their every whim,” says Lieutenant Ludovic Poulet, station commander at the Montrevel-en-Bresse fire station, who believes that, in the face of this rise in violence, “firefighters are ill-equipped and not properly trained. Training won’t change the behaviour of the attackers, but in my view, it would enable our firefighters to cope better with such undesirable situations.”
Summoned to appear before the judges
Both men will have to answer for their behaviour in court. The father is due to appear before the criminal court on 16 April, and his son before the juvenile court on 21 May.
Photos: D.R.