Assaults excusable in certain situations?

So scenario. I was assaulted last night at work, by a family member of a person who was having a life threatening medical emergency. The patient was not tolerating the treatment, and the family was getting worked up, because they didn’t understand why we were forcing her to tolerate it, despite the best attempts to educate. The patient panicked and ended up grabbing me and as I was attempting to pull her off, her family member pushed and pulled at me, to prevent me from removing her grip. I was nearly knocked over, but was uninjured, but the potential was certainly there, and hands were placed on me that should not have been. My partner and I managed to diffuse the situation by removing ourselves and the patient from the home, and ultimately she had a good outcome, and I spoke with the family and all was well. I’m obviously not going to press charges, because I wasn’t hurt, but technically, I was assaulted and had the right to.

So to the question. Do you feel it is appropriate for people to assault someone in those situations, and not face any repercussions? Does the anxiety of the situation excuse those behaviors? If yes, what makes the safety of first responders secondary to the desire of the family to interfere in patient care? Does the level of injury change your opinion?