Cameras could work wonders

Given the latest assault statistics on ambulance staff, perhaps we should be issuing them with pugil sticks and nunchucks rather than body-cams.

With five assaults on ambulance staff a week being reported something more substantial than a body mounted camera could be in order.

When you hear stories of paramedics being bitten and spat at by the very people they have raced to help, there’s a few of us who wouldn’t mind seeing a more robust form of retribution being administered. (Think a pugil stick across the offender’s bonce!)

While issuing staff with body-cams may seem like a sticking plaster approach to the issue it may well prove an effective measure.

The Echo has long battled for greater protection for our emergency crews and in recent weeks that call has been answered.

The passing of a new bill making attacks on emergency workers such as ambulance staff a specific crime will double the current sentence available to judges. The new maximum penalty is a year in jail. By issuing staff with body cameras, they will be able to record any attacks they suffer.

Alan Gallagher of The North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) said: “This move is designed to help us bring more prosecutions against people who put our staff at risk and reduce the assaults and abuse they are currently facing in the line of their work. There really is nothing more disheartening than being hurt by someone that you’ve gone to help.”

The more information they can capture, the more evidence gathered to hit offenders hard in the courts.

A year in jail could be just as effective as a pugil stick to the head. Here’s hoping...