Woman in her 50s assaulted paramedics who came to her aid, citing embarrassment

A woman in her 50s who hurled abuse and attacked paramedics who had responded to help her received a suspended fine sentence.

The Chuncheon District Court's Second Criminal Division, presided over by Chief Judge Kim Seong-rae, on July 16 dismissed prosecutors' appeal against the suspended sentence handed to the woman, identified only as A, 54. She had been given a suspended fine of 1 million won ($682) in the first trial under the Act on 119 Rescue and Emergency Medical Services.

A was indicted on charges of assaulting paramedics who were providing emergency treatment after she fell and injured herself at an apartment complex in Wonju, Gangwon Province, at around 10:23 p.m. on Aug. 9 last year. She allegedly cursed at the responders, swung a towel at their faces and torsos, and struck one firefighter's shoulder with the hand holding her mobile phone.

The crew had been dispatched after receiving a report that an intoxicated person had fallen on a staircase. Upon arriving at the scene, they found A had fallen backward on the stairs and sustained swelling on the back of her head, and were conducting safety checks and medical assessments when the assault occurred.

The first-instance court said paramedics dispatched in response to a call are obligated to carry out rescue and emergency operations regardless of the patient's wishes, and that A's condition at the time was not one in which responders could have simply halted their efforts at her request.

"Nevertheless, the defendant verbally abused and assaulted the paramedics because she was embarrassed about the situation becoming known," the court said, adding that it suspended the sentence in light of her admission of guilt, the victim paramedics' wish not to pursue punishment, and the relatively minor nature of the assault.

Prosecutors appealed, arguing the sentence was unduly lenient, but the second-instance court upheld the lower court's judgment.