Paramedics ‘scared to go to work’ after colleague attacked

Paramedics in Victoria are in shock after a passer-by stabbed one of their colleagues in the face and neck while he was on duty on Thursday.

The victim, a 20-year professional originally from the Northern Territory, is in Royal Melbourne Hospital’s emergency department in a serious but stable condition after the incident, which happened in Melbourne’s north about 11.20am.

Police and Ambulance Victoria said the first responder was getting coffee at a cafe in Reservoir just after 11am, when a man got out of a red car and stabbed him.

The man then fled in the same car, they said. Police made an arrest in the same suburb a few hours later.

The paramedic’s injuries were not life-threatening, but Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jordan Emery said that made the situation no less serious.

Speaking outside the Royal Melbourne Hospital on Thursday afternoon, Emery said: “It is completely unacceptable that those people who spend their lives caring for others, who give so much to care for their communities, continue to face violence on a daily basis.

“We need to spend time in our communities reflecting on how we have come to a place where more than 1000 paramedics are assaulted every single year in Victoria.”

He said the problem was increasing across Victoria and that drug and alcohol abuse weren’t the only explanations.

“There will be paramedics tonight who will be scared to go to work, and rightly so, because of this appalling violence,” he said.

Emery said a bystander had intervened to stop the offender, which allowed the paramedic to perform first aid on himself – despite bleeding profusely – until his colleagues arrived.

“We extend our sincere gratitude and thanks to that bystander,” Emery said. “We hope that we get the opportunity to provide a more fulsome thanks directly.”

Police arrested a 32-year-old man over the incident at a different street in Reservoir at 1pm. The man is being interviewed.

Since 2018, injuring an emergency worker has been a category 1 offence in Victoria, meaning courts must impose a prison sentence – in this case at least six months – for those found guilty. The maximum penalty for this crime is five years in jail.

Danny Hill, secretary of Victoria’s Ambulance Union, said the incident demonstrated the need for the state’s leaders to take action.

“Until it stops, we’re going to keep advocating for improvements to laws, tighter penalties, harsher penalties,” he said, though he declined to detail what these desired improvements were when asked.

More to come

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