Police used a Taser to subdue an aggressive patient in the emergency department of Prince George General Hospital last week, CBC News has learned.

The incident took place around 5 p.m. PT Thursday, an hour before a video of a fatal Taser incident at Vancouver airport was released to the public.

Health officials said the man damaged several cars in the parking lot and returned to the hospital, where he punched a telephone and damaged doors in the emergency department before security guards called RCMP.

Mark Karjaluoto, a spokesperson for the Northern Health Authority, defended the decision to call in the RCMP and use a Taser on the patient.

"We do have an excellent group of security staff at PGRH and they do respond to circumstances of aggressive patients," Karjaluoto said.

"Sometimes they may feel they may need additional assistance with the RCMP and we would involve them."

Karjaluoto isn't sure how common it is to use a Taser on a hospital patient.

"I don't actually have a lot of detail in terms of the number of times a Taser may have been used within our health facilities," said Karjaluoto.

The man spent the night in hospital and was discharged the next day.

Officials at Northern Health said privacy considerations prevent them from naming the patient or saying why he was at the hospital or if his outburst was related to mental health issues.