<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
While on his way home after work, Mr. P. suffered a major stroke. Police officers who intervened concluded that the man was under the influence of alcohol and called the City Guard to transport him to the sobering station.<\/p>\n
During the intervention, the man was not tested with a breathalyzer because neither the Police nor the City Guard had one at their disposal at the time. As a result, the man was admitted to the sobering station which conducted a medical examination and called the ambulance four hours after Mr. P.\u2019s admittance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile considering the appeal against Mr. P.\u2019s arrest and admittance to the facility, the court stated that the man\u2019s placement in a sobering station was unjustified, misguided, mistaken and carried at least a potential risk to his health and life,\u201d says Irmina Pacho, a lawyer at the Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights (HFHR). The court also pointed to the insufficient supervision over the man\u2019s stay in the station.<\/p>\n
The court concluded that both the officers of the Police and the City Guard exercised due diligence. It further noticed that it was impossible to lay the blame on the officers for not noticing that Mr. P. was in need of immediate medical care and that it was necessary to transport him to the hospital instead of a sobering station.<\/p>\n
\u201eIn its case-law, the European Court of Human Rights has multiple times noted that a state has a duty to protect arrested persons and persons deprived of liberty. This duty covers, among others, protection of health and provision of proper healthcare,\u201d explains advocate Miko\u0142aj Pietrzak who, at the request of HFHR, served as Mr. P.\u2019s pro bono lawyer.<\/p>\n
\u201eAn enhanced standard of protection should also apply to law enforcement officers in situations when they assess the health of persons transported to sobering stations,\u201d advocate Miko\u0142aj Pietrzak adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn HFHR\u2019s view, it is necessary to introduce proper procedures and provide adequate training in order to eliminate the risk of law enforcement officers\u2019 making wrong decisions in the future, which could endanger somebody\u2019s life or health,\u201d Irmina Pacho adds. \u201cCorrect assessment of the man\u2019s health and provision of medical care in the key moment just after the stroke could have limited the extent of internal damage.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
While on his way home after work, Mr. P. suffered a major stroke. Police officers who intervened concluded that the man was under the influence of alcohol and called the City Guard to transport him to the sobering station. During the intervention, the man was not tested with a breathalyzer because neither the Police nor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"autor":[],"class_list":["post-2513","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bez-kategorii"],"yoast_head":"\n