NT police officer's family uses smartphone app to locate him in hospital, learns of injury via text message in 'traumatic' incident

Updated

The wife of a Darwin police officer who sustained a head injury while on duty has called for welfare services to be reinstated after the NT Police Force failed to notify her of his hospital admittance.

The senior constable was knocked unconscious and hit his head on the ground while attempting to restrain a person of interest around midnight on June 3.

His wife Megan said she expected to be contacted by a senior NT police officer about his injury and hospital admittance.

Her husband, who has served in the force for 30 years, was "bemused" that nobody checked on his welfare, she said.

Megan discovered her husband was at the Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH) the morning after the incident by locating his phone on a smartphone app.

"I noticed that he was at RDH. Normally that wouldn't worry me but I had a little bit of concern for some reason," she said.

I would have liked a call, just to know what had happened, and have an opportunity to come in and see him. I got there as soon as I could. Megan, wife of NT police officer

Megan said she was shocked police did not notify her of the incident and she instead had to send her husband a text message to find out.

"I would have liked a call, just to know what had happened, and have an opportunity to come in and see him. I got there as soon as I could," she said.

"It's about a 40-minute drive so I had to wake the kids up and get them dressed, threw a piece of bread at them both, and said 'get in the car, we're going to go and see Daddy'.

"My daughter burst into tears ... she was quite upset and crying."

The officer required a CT scan after being diagnosed with a head injury, concussion and spatial amnesia.

"I'm a registered nurse and I think I know that things can go south quickly," Megan said.

"If it had been worse or things may have changed, I might have not had an opportunity to speak with him.

"It was really traumatic for me ... I don't want my kids to be without their dad."

Megan said her husband was disorientated, struggling for words and acting out of character when she reached his hospital bed.

"He was really worried about his gun kit and his torch for some reason. He was incessant that I take him back to the station so he could check on things," she said.

Welfare officers helped family after daughter's death

Megan and her husband lost their two month old daughter after a severe seizure in 2001.

She said the support her family received from a police welfare service was invaluable and was in "stark contrast" to the last week's incident.

"They helped in a lot of different ways, that support was there, encouragement [saying] 'we're here for you, let us know if we can help'," Megan said.

"Just knowing that they were there, if we did need anything."

The police welfare service was decommissioned in 2011 and the role was absorbed by psychologists.

"I look back on it and just think that was an invaluable service to me, to my husband too," Megan said.

Reinstate welfare officers: police association

President of the NT Police Association Paul McCue said Megan's case demonstrated the new model of welfare support in the police force was not enough.

Mr McCue said the association was concerned about the welfare of police offers since the welfare officers were removed.

He said while psychologists played an important role, careers were now at risk.

"Often there's that hand on the shoulder moment where sometimes an officer just simply needs a mate who's simply been in a situation like they may have been in," Mr McCue said.

"Or their family is going through a situation [and] sometimes they might just need that cup of coffee.

"Not just at the time but on a regular basis to just make sure they're OK."

Megan is calling on NT Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw to reinstate welfare officers.

"I feel really strongly that the police need a welfare service back out there helping members and maybe saving some careers along the way," she said.

"That would be my perfect world."

Mr Kershaw was unavailable for comment.

Topics: police, law-crime-and-justice, health, family, darwin-0800

First posted