The peak industry body representing Australian paramedics has issued a full apology after falsely claiming the “irate” family of a 25-year-old NSW man who died on Sunday prevented his treatment by medical professionals.
In a new statement, the Australian Paramedics Association (APA) today said the idea that Hamze Ibrahim‘s family members “either contributed to or were in any way responsible for his death is wholly incorrect and should not have been reported.”
The APA added that “at no time” did any of Ibrahim’s relatives attempt to threaten or stop the paramedics from doing their job.
In its initial press release, the APA stated paramedics were called to Riverwood in Sydney‘s south to attend to a suspected drug overdose.
APA secretary Steve Pearce said they faced “the outrageous situation where a violent mob demanded paramedics hand over a defibrillator and drugs, saying they would treat the patient.”
The organisation also stated around 60 police officers attended to the scene.
Those facts have been disputed. Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, the family’s lawyer Raed Rahal said claims Ibrahim suffered a drug overdose were false and only served to cause the family further distress.
As for the police contingent, The Sydney Morning Herald confirmed 15 officers were at the scene.
While the initial statement was wrong on a baffling level, paramedics are assaulted at worrying rates in Australia. Earlier this year, Victorian paramedics took to drawing on their own vehicles to implore people not to violently interfere with their work.
#springst #itsnotok Paramedic after Paramedic, Crew after Crew, branch after branch, we all stand in defiance to todays ruling pic.twitter.com/LjCzK2UUZO
— ALS Paramedic (@FairGoParamedic) May 15, 2018
It just turns out that in the tragic case of Hamze Ibrahim, that wasn’t the case. Not at all.
