The technicians went on sick leave. That was suspicious: ‘There is a terrible atmosphere in the hospital, we are in shock’

– We have all kinds of situations, but this extreme is not everyday and it cannot be Googled – says the doctor on the condition of anonymity. Who is responsible for this – the excessive use of force on the patient and for the fact that, as the hospital employees stated in the protest on Monday, the employees are not sufficiently trained or have security guards?

– The responsibility lies with the four detained technicians who violated all existing rules. We don’t know why they did it, no one can figure it out – another source from the Jankomir hospital told us. Nothing, he claims, was covered up, but the director Dr. Maja Grah after the death of the patient, she did not look at the footage from the camera until Wednesday.

– At first, no one doubted the death reports, which stated that the patient was known to them from before, that he was aggressive, that he had to be restrained humanely and that he stopped breathing in the process. No one thought that what happened was really possible. But the director became suspicious that none of the four gave notice and that they suddenly went on sick leave. Then she looked at the video… – the source tells us. She looked at it on Wednesday, on Friday the recording was handed over to the police, and on Saturday the arrest took place.

That’s why it’s the Ministry of health, which is his complaint, could not have been informed earlier. The Ministry doesn’t act or inform about every death of a patient, they were informed now because the situation is extraordinary, says our interlocutor. Establishesč of the Jankomir Hospital is the City of Zagreb, so there were harsh criticisms from the top of the state authorities, which there is no other way, in equally justified situations.

The hospital claims that they informed the ministry about the case on Saturday, and the ministry says it was informed on Monday.

The three medical technicians were fired on Thursday, November 5, a day after the hospital’s management, according to sources in the hospital, viewed the video. The fourth dismissal was sent after the police looked at the video and determined that the fourth technician also took part in physically restraining the patient, he said. Looking at Mrsićpresident of the Administrative Council of the Clinic in Jankomir.

The autopsy is as we have accidentally found out, it has been completed, but we will still have to wait for some time for the toxicological and histological findings. The lawyer of the family of the 32-year-old says that the young man he was not addicted to drugs and he says that even the health institution itself has no evidence that he was under the influence of narcotics.

– Every employee in a psychiatric institution must be familiar with the protocol for the use of force in certain circumstances, and it is very unusual that in Jankomir they claim that there was no training or that it was not enough. Our staff goes to training sessions regularly, where they simulate the restraints of a violent patient – a doctor from another psychiatric institution in Croatia reveals to us.

As he adds, restraints are rare, and then in most cases they are requested by the patients themselves, in fear of their own actions.

– There is absolutely no justification for a pillow on the head, it is terrible – concludes the doctor, our interlocutor. He also adds that in resuscitation it is possibleć rib fracture, but not on both sides.

According to the preliminary findings of the autopsy, Periš had multiple rib fractures, a sternum fracture, pulmonary and brain edema, and numerous blood clots. The exact cause of death will be determined after the completion of additional expert examinations.

Union representative Together for psychiatry and the medical technician at the Vrapče Clinic, Ariane Jarića Dauenhauer, we asked if the union changed its mind about the dismissed technicians after the recordings of their intervention were published. He replies that “nothing has changed in terms of the fact that the investigation and the court will do their job”.

– It is important to learn something from this tragedy to address the most pressing problems in healthcare, which led to the tragedy – said the trade unionist.

When asked why a pillow was pressed on the patient’s face, he replied that he did not know what the role of the pillow was.

– During the process, it is subjected to improvisations, but I don’t know what the pillow was for – he answers.