New Incident of Violence Against Medical Staff in Razlog Emergency Centre

A new case of aggression against medical personnel occurred at the Emergency Medical Care unit in the town of Razlog, Southwestern Bulgaria, involving three women who attacked a nurse and the doctor on duty. According to the medical staff, aggressive behaviour from patients is quite common, yet no measures have been taken so far.

The incident happened on Sunday afternoon. A woman arrived at the emergency centre with complaints of finger pain and was examined and asked to wait.

Emilia Grozdanova, nurse:
"Meanwhile, a little girl with a wound to her right eye, around five years old, was brought in. Dr. Kunova and I went to treat the child's injury."

Minutes later, a commotion began in the waiting area and the situation escalated.

Emilia Grozdanova:
"The woman was with two other ladies, and they started shouting and threatening… At that moment, from behind me, the patient and one of her companions—because one of them was recording—attacked me from behind, pulled me back, pushed me into the wall. I hit my head and only regained awareness a little later on the floor."

Medical staff at the the emergency centre in Razlog emphasised that insults and threats of physical violence from patients are frequent occurrences.

Dr. Aylin Kunova, doctor on duty:
"This aggression is constant from patients, and we try to contain it to prevent it from escalating to physical attacks, as happened in this case."

Dr. Ivan Kutov, head doctor of the Razlog Emergency Unit:
"Problems with patients like this are indeed common, especially when immediate action cannot be taken."

The Ministry of Interior reported that following the incident, three women were detained within 24 hours. The case is being handled by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office in Blagoevgrad. Following this event, the medical staff at the emergency centre are preparing a petition and have warned that if no measures are taken, they will submit a collective resignation.