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Alex Wubbels

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Alex Wubbels
Born
Alexandra Shaffer

(1976-01-23) January 23, 1976 (age 48)
Aspen, Colorado, U.S.
OccupationNurse
Known forOlympic skier,
Arrested for obstructing unlawful police procedures, later released without charge (July 2017)
SpouseCory Wubbels (m. 2014)

Alexandra L. Wubbels[1] (née Shaffer; born January 23, 1976) is an American nurse and former Olympian. As an alpine ski competitor, she was the national champion in both the Slalom and Grand Slalom in 1999, and competed in the 1998 Winter Olympics and 2002 Winter Olympics as Alex Shaffer.[2]

In July 2017, she was involved in an incident during which she prevented police from unlawfully obtaining blood from an unconscious patient in her care.[3]

Early life

Wubbels graduated from Salt Lake City's non-profit, Rowland K-12 school in 1994, participating in the Rowmark Ski Academy.[4] She earned a nursing degree from the University of Utah.

Career

Olympic skier

Competing in the Alpine skiing events at the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan, Alex Shaffer finished 9th in the Women's Combined and did not finish in the Women's Giant Slalom. She also competed in the Alpine Skiing events at the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah, where she finished 28th in the Women's Giant Slalom.[2]

Nurse

Main article: 2017 University of Utah Hospital incident

According to Wubbels, a sports psychologist encouraged her to go into nursing after matching her personality with the profession.[5] Wubbels began working as a nurse at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City in 2009.[6]

On July 26, 2017, she was unlawfully arrested for "obstructing justice" while on duty as a nurse at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. The incident was later made public via the officers' body cameras. The arresting officer, detective Jeff Payne, demanded that blood be drawn from an unconscious patient, but Wubbels stated that doing so would be a violation of hospital policy, which required that the patient be under arrest, or had given consent, or that the police were in possession of a warrant. The patient was the victim in a car crash and was not under arrest, but was unconscious and therefore unable to consent, and the police had not obtained a warrant.[7] She followed hospital policy and refused to allow the officer to draw blood, and the arresting officers proceeded to forcibly put her in handcuffs and into the front passenger seat of their cruiser.[3][8] The year-old hospital policy related to blood draws reflects the legal position in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), as well as the Supreme Court of the United States' ruling in Birchfield v. North Dakota and had been agreed to by the police department.

Wubbels was later released without charge.[9] The arresting officer was fired on October 10, and his supervisor was demoted two ranks from Lieutenant to Officer.[10][11][12][13] On October 31, 2017, Wubbels and her attorney announced that Salt Lake City and the University of Utah had agreed to settle the incident for $500,000. She said that part of her settlement will go toward efforts geared to making body cam footage more accessible to the public.[14][15] The incident was one of the reasons Medscape put Wubbels on its list of the best physicians in 2017.[16]

Personal life

In June 2014 Shaffer married fellow skier, Cory Wubbels. He is a former All-American Nordic skier who competed for Northern Michigan University and is a guitar player, carpenter and master ski technician.[17] They had their first child in December 2014.[17]

References

  1. ^ "Wubbels, Alexandra L". The University of Utah Campus Directory. Retrieved December 24, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Alex Shaffer". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
  3. ^ a b Manson, Pamela (August 31, 2017). "Video shows Utah nurse screaming, being handcuffed after refusing to take blood from unconscious victim". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  4. ^ "Extraordinary Athletes: How Rowmark Ski Academy Develops Future Olympians". Fine Print. Rowland Hall. Spring 2018. Archived from the original on July 6, 2018. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  5. ^ Wubbels, Alex (May 2018). "Standing Her Ground: A Strong Voice for Patient and Nurse Safety" (PDF). AACN Bold Voices. American Association of Colleges of Nursing. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  6. ^ Ortiz, Erik; Siemaszko, Corky (September 1, 2017). "Videos show nurse who refused to give patients' blood to police get arrested". NBC News. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  7. ^ Sterling, Joe (September 4, 2017). "'Scared to death' nurse in Utah video: 'I stood my ground'". CNN. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  8. ^ Hawkins, Derek (September 2, 2017). "'This is crazy,' sobs Utah hospital nurse as cop roughs her up, arrests her for doing her job". The Washington Post. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  9. ^ Gray, Melissa (September 1, 2017). "'I've done nothing wrong': Utah nurse's arrest prompts police apology". CNN. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
  10. ^ "Police union blasts handling of Utah nurse arrest probe". ABC News. The Associated Press. September 25, 2017. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved October 1, 2017.
  11. ^ Allen, Karma (October 11, 2017). "Officer fired for dragging screaming nurse out of hospital". ABC News. Retrieved October 12, 2017.
  12. ^ Cummings, William (October 10, 2017). "Utah cop fired after arresting nurse who wouldn't draw blood". USA Today. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  13. ^ "Utah police officer who handcuffed, dragged nurse in video fired". ABC7 Chicago. Associated Press. October 10, 2017. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved October 11, 2017.
  14. ^ Francis, Simone (October 31, 2017). "Utah nurse at center of controversial arrest announces $500K settlement". KTVX. Retrieved November 1, 2017.
  15. ^ "US nurse gets $500,000 in blood arrest row". BBC. November 1, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2018.
  16. ^ Knowles, Megan. "13 best physicians of 2017, as named by Medscape". Becker's Hospital Review. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  17. ^ a b Farrell, Paul (September 1, 2017). "Alex Wubbels: 5 Fast Facts You Need To Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved July 6, 2018.

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