Paramedics slammed for ‘inappropriate’ TikTok ‘coffin dance’ video with ‘coronavirus patient’

PARAMEDICS have today been slammed for an ‘inappropriate’ TikTok ‘coffin’ video that saw them dance with a ‘coronavirus patient’.

Medics were filmed boogieing with a dummy for the clip – carrying it in a funeral procession before bizarrely waving napkins over the fake body.

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The clip is in a similar vein to the dancing Ghanian pallbearers meme, based off a real company in Ghana that carries coffins while dancing.

But it was quickly slammed by people on social media – critical the dance was making light of the coronavirus pandemic.

And a North West Ambulance spokesperson today apologised, saying it was “highly inappropriate”.

The video initially shows paramedics in an ambulance, with one calling out to another: “Just have a seat there while I put my mask on.”

The patient then coughs – with the paramedics turning around to look at him in horror.

It then cuts to four paramedics dancing with the dummy, performing odd moves to electronic music.

They then high five each other and carry the dummy out of shot.

The video was captioned: “Caution. Morale boost imminent #COVID19 #coffindance #nhs.”

It was based off an original Ghanaian meme which has been widely circulated and employed during the coronavirus pandemic as a tongue in cheek message to encourage people to stay at home.

The funeral dance meme had been based on a video from 2017 that saw pallbearers in Ghana organise an eleborate send off.

Before it was removed, the video had been watched almost 40,000 times.

Brits were less than impressed, with one writing on Twitter: “@NWAmbulance huge supporter of yourselves & the £NHS. I think you are all absolute legends.

“But to stumble across this video, mocking people with COVID19, calling it the coffin dance & stating this is ‘morale’.

“Personally I don’t see families being ripped apart as morale.”

Another added: “Amoral and sickening to watch. If you want to dance around in uniform fine, but trivialising death at any time is wrong!

“Especially with so many losing their lives. Stupidity like this is already bringing health services and professions in to disrepute.”

In a statement, the ambulance service said the matter would be dealt with internally.

They said: “We are aware of a TikTok video circulating on social media posted by a small group of our staff which shows them acting in an unprofessional manner.

“Although we appreciate that those involved did not mean to cause offence, this video is highly inappropriate and a clear breach of our social media policy.

“We apologise for any distress this has caused and we can assure you that we are taking this seriously and dealing with the matter internally.”

It’s not the first time that medics have come under fire for appearing to make fun of patients.

A similar video recently was slammed after it was posted online, with nurses dancing with a body bag labelled Covid-19.

And in the US, viral videos made by doctors and nurses made headlines after concerns they were being unprofessional.