2 months ago
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A spate of attacks on paramedics that ambulance bosses say are increasing in severity has led to a plea for greater respect towards their first responders.
Ambulance Victoria regional operations director Vanessa Gorman says the situation is the worst she’s seen in 30 years, with reports that one crew was rammed by a car, another confronted by a person trying to hit them with a cricket bat and others repeatedly punched in the face.
Paramedic Luke Harrington was recently assaulted on the job.Credit: Simon Schluter
The festive season historically led to worse behaviour towards ambulance crews as alcohol and drug consumption increased alongside risk-taking.
Paramedic Luke Harrington has now been spat on twice while working.
The second instance was just a few days before Christmas, when a stranger approached his ambulance late at night in a Rowville carpark, demanding equipment that Harrington told him they didn’t have.
“That’s when he escalated, and he got right up to my face and spat on my neck,” Harrington recalls.
Ambulance Victoria regional directors Andrew Burns and Vanessa Gorman speak to media on Tuesday.Credit: Simon Schluter
The paramedic managed to climb back into his vehicle, but the aggressive man smashed on his window, swearing as he tried to jump on the ambulance before police arrived.
“I think we were just lucky in that situation to get away,” Harrington says.
Gorman said on Tuesday that the frequency of attacks had increased since November, but she was particularly concerned that the severity of assaults had worsened too.
“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it in 30 years of emergency work,” she says. “I’ve physically had my wrist broken. I’ve been spat on, kicked, punched multiple times throughout my career, but I’ve never seen it as bad as it is now, in regards to the severity of assaults taking place.”
On December 27, a patient stroked a female paramedic’s inner thigh and continued the unwanted touching, even after more crew arrived.
Gorman said she was particularly shocked by that sexual assault.
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“In a three-day window, we had 10 very serious offences perpetrated against our paramedics, which has caused us today to step out as an organisation and as regional leaders to say: Enough is enough.”
She described violence inflicted upon emergency workers as a global epidemic.
Andrew Burns, Ambulance Victoria’s operations director for western Melbourne, said patients were often the perpetrators of paramedic assaults, but bystanders and relatives were increasingly aggressive.
“I think rather than talking to the specific numbers, it’s the trend and the severity that is grossly concerning,” he said.
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“We’ve had crews whipped by stethoscope. We’ve had crews have to abandon the ambulance whilst a patient destroyed the back of the ambulance.”
Harrington, meanwhile, has been a paramedic for seven years and describes violence towards him as part of the reality of his profession. Spitting was not uncommon, he said.
“I wish that I could say that this was the first time it’s happened to me, but almost an identical situation happened about 18 months ago,” he said.
“It was the same thing, a stranger came and pulled the window down, essentially, and spat on me again. I got into this job to help people on their worst day … which is why it’s even more disappointing that this stuff happens.”
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