01 September, 2017
Footage taken by University Hospital, in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Detective Jeff Payne's body camera show he threatened Ms Wubbels with jail if she did not comply, despite her having checked the policy with her bosses, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. Charges were never filed against her. But now, Wubbels and her attorney, Karra Porter, want the public to hear her story and see the disturbing body camera video.
Footage from University Hospital and officer body cameras shows Wubbels saying that blood can not be taken from an unconscious patient unless the patient is under arrest, unless there is a warrant allowing the draw or unless the patient consents.
"I was just trying to do it the right way", Wubbels said. "I feel a lot of things". And I am still confused.
She said, "I'm a health care worker". The only job I have is to keep my patient safe. But blood is your blood. When a patient comes in a critical state that blood is extremely important.
"We are done, we are done, you are under arrest", the video showed Payne saying while he pulls Wubbles arms behind her back and handcuffs her. The driver had been struck by a motorist who was fleeing from Utah Highway Patrol troopers in Cache County.
"The patient arrived to our hospital intubated and sedated so he was not able to consent", said Wobbles.
Payne, a veteran Salt Lake police officer, was sent to the hospital by another police agency to get vials of blood for the investigation.
According to Wubbels, Payne demanded she draw blood from a suspect brought to the hospital because he wanted the blood for an investigation and she refused because he needed a warrant and the patient was in no shape to give consent after being severely burned in a truck accident that left him near comatose.
"If they needed blood, then they needed to go through to proper channels to take it", she said. "They refused to take any steps to protect her".
Payne, whose request did not get fulfilled, kept insisting and that led Wubbles to call several hospital officials, who repeated the same rule that she had already told him.
In the video of the July 26th incident, released by the Salt Lake City Police Department, you can see the officer make the arrest. He said Payne has been suspended.
