Emergency room personnel are often placed in stressful situations by nature of their vocations. But a recent incident at Aurora Memorial Hospital of Burlington makes a compelling case for hazard pay.
Moises C. Franco, 39, appeared in Racine County Circuit Court Oct. 6 to answer to charges that he defecated on the floor of the emergency department and urinated on a nurse who was attending to him while he was reportedly in a drunken rage Aug. 23.
Franco is formally charged with two felonies – battery to an emergency rescue worker and throwing or discharging bodily fluids at a public safety worker.
During Franco’s court appearance, a court commissioner found probable cause to send the case to trial and ordered Franco not to consume or possess alcohol or have any contact with Memorial Hospital. The court established $1,000 signature bond.
According to the criminal complaint filed in the case, City of Burlington police were called to the hospital just after 2 p.m. Aug. 23 for a report of a highly intoxicated and disorderly man.
Franco told police he had come to the hospital because he was sick and denied drinking alcohol. However, according to the complaint, the attending physician told police that Franco’s blood alcohol concentration had been measured at .45, which is 5.5 times greater than what the state considers legal evidence of intoxication.
As police were talking to emergency department staff, an officer reportedly saw Franco attempt to rip the IV out of his arm, become agitated with staff and refuse to recline on a gurney.
While staff was attempting to place soft restraints on Franco, he punched a nursing assistant in the chest “with enough force to knock the wind out of the victim,” the complaint contends.
About an hour after Franco was restrained, he asked to use the bathroom, according to the complaint. Staff brought him a urinal and a nurse left to get a portable toilet when Franco allegedly exclaimed, “If you’re not going to help me, then f— it.” At that point he allegedly pulled down his shorts and defecated on the floor, then stood up and urinated on the arm of a nurse who was in the room.
The complaint contends Franco also urinated on the floor, cabinets and walls of the room before sitting down on the bed and cleaning himself with the sheets, leaving streaks of feces behind.
A preliminary hearing in the case has been set for Oct. 28, according to online court records.
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