Hurting the helping hands

Service hits out at Darling Downs paramedics assaults

FIVE paramedics violently assaulted while responding to emergencies across the Darling Downs in the past two years were forced to take time off work to recover from injuries.

Eleven paramedics have been assaulted on the job every year since 2015, official figures show, as a result of deliberate physical attacks from patients or their families when the paramedics responded to calls for help.

While a comparatively low figure to other regions such as Brisbane, the Queensland Ambulance Service said it was still too high.

QAS Darling Downs Assistant Commissioner Rod Sheather said paramedics responded to 67,965 calls for assistance from July 1, 2015, to June 30, 2016. Crews responded to 60,793 calls from July 1, 2016, to March 31, this year.

Twenty-two of those paramedics in the Darling Downs were injured in deliberate physical attacks, five of whom were forced to take leave from work.

“We don’t expect our paramedics to be assaulted at all,” Ass. Commissioner Sheather said.

“We don’t accept a reason or a rationale. Our people are out there trying to help and they’re being assaulted or abused. If it’s one of your friends or loved ones (being treated), it’s really not helping them by assaulting the paramedics.”

Ass. Commissioner Sheather said the statewide Zero Tolerance – No Excuse for Abuse campaign designed to stamp out violence against paramedics had achieved some success.

Frontline responders had also undergone further training to better prepare paramedics and operational staff to handle physically and verbally violent situations.

He said it was hard to determine the main contributing factors of violence against paramedics.

“The Queensland Ambulance Service has done a lot of work in this area, providing all our people with occupational training programs to help them recognise the environment and help them respond to these incidents so they don’t get hurt,” he said.

“It’s hard to be specific (as) some are alcohol and substance abuse, some are just high emotions and anywhere in between that.

“We’ve got 26 stations in our network and some are in small rural communities with different environments.

“The reality is that one assault is too many.”