It took a Taser to finally subdue a patient who turned violent and attacked the paramedics trying to help him after being hit by a car this morning, according to firefighters.
Dispatchers say that the medics were treating the man after he was hit while walking along the southbound shoulder of Route 1 in Philadelphia around 5:30 a.m. Monday.
Firefighters said that the man was in a semi-conscious state when he was loaded into the Medic 25 ambulance. Both medics remained in the back giving the patient oxygen while a firefighter took the wheel of the vehicle.
The routine quickly became chaotic inside the ambulance.
"They suspected that this person was in need of medical attention but yet he turned on them," said Deputy Fire Commissioner Derrick Sawyer.
While en route to the hospital, the patient came to, punched one of the medics, attacked the other and jumped out of the ambulance, according to Sawyer.
It wasn't clear if the ambulance was moving at the time.
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As procedure, a fire truck was trailing the ambulance. After the man burst out of the ambulance, he threw the oxygen tank at the fire engine and attempted to steal the fire truck, said paramedics spokesman Frank Keel with IAFF Local 22.
Keel says that firefighters pulled the man out of the vehicle and officers shocked the man four times to finally subdue his rampage on Erie Avenue near 19th Street in the city's Nicetown section.
The emergency responders were taken to Temple University Hospital in stable condition.
The patient, allegedly turned attacker, was also hospitalized with non-serious injuries, according to firefighters.
Medics haven't had an easy time with things recently. Just last week, EMTs had to escape a fire that destroyed their ambulance.
