Wounded Iran Protesters Avoid Hospitalization In Fear Of Arrest
Many people injured by the Islamic Republic’s security forces amid current protests avoid treatment in hospitals for fear of being arrested, reports say.
Many people injured by the Islamic Republic’s security forces amid current protests avoid treatment in hospitals for fear of being arrested, reports say.
According to a Tuesday report on CBS News, the wounded protesters attempt to treat themselves at home, "somehow," as security forces scan hospitals to detain injured people.
Some Iranian medical professionals, who spoke to CBS on condition of anonymity out of concern for their safety, said they felt a duty to help the wounded, with one of them – who is a nurse – saying that she treated two protesters whose skulls had been fractured. "They were afraid to go to the hospital," she said, adding that she had to tend to their wounds on the street during the unrest.
Another Iranian nurse and emergency call operator said, "We are required to report all gunshot cases to the police because all of the phone calls are recorded,” noting that the risk of arrest to injured protesters is real.
Dr. Kayvan Mirhadi, an Iranian American and chief of internal medicine at the Clifton Springs Hospital in New York, said he receives around 500 Instagram messages daily from wounded protesters from Iran, begging him for medical advice.
He said if he fails to refer them to his trusted doctors in Iran, he tries to walk them through the best home remedies possible. According to him, their injuries range from fractures and significant head injuries, to second- and third-degree burns from electric batons, as well as bullet and pellet wounds.
According to another doctor, ambulances in the capital Tehran transport injured protesters directly to police stations. "As soon as they enter the hospital, there are intelligence agents and members of Revolutionary Guards who record their names," he said.
