On Wednesday, a drunk man armed with a knife threatened the local staff and patients. According to witnesses, the man was waving a 20cm blade and threatened to kill one member of the polyclinic’s security staff, after they tried to detain the aggressor. In the end, the perpetrator was detained by the police who measured his blood alcohol levels. After a value of 2 per mille was measured, the police decided to escort the armed man of old age to a specialized facility that is designed to detain individuals with high levels of alcohol and other drugs. The aggressor will be kept there until he gets sober. Only then will he be questioned about the incident and potentially face criminal charges. Luckily, no one was hurt during the incident. However, other cases of armed civilians in Czech healthcare facilities did not end so well in the past, so it is easy to imagine the terror the patients at the health centre felt. A healthcare facility must be one of the safest places a person can visit. Only when people feel safe can they devote their full attention and trust towards the healthcare staff and undergo successful treatment. On the other hand, we don’t know anything about the man’s motivations, health, and anything else which might push him to proceed with such an act. For now, we can only be sure that the police are on the case, and he will be punished according to the law, if determined guilty of a crime.
