Ambos facing spike in assaults

THE number of assaults on Gold Coast paramedics has spiked 50 per cent in the past year – and drunk or drug-addled idiots are largely to blame.

New figures show three paramedics are being abused every month as they go to the aid of the injured and sick.

From July last year through to the end of March, 25 paramedics were deliberately bashed, up from 19 for the same period the previous year.

There have also been 18 verbal threats and 11 counts of accidental contact made against ambulance officers this year.

Paramedics are now being trained in de-escalation tactics, as well as self defence, to get them out of hairy situations.

Operators are also assessing situations on the fly and can see whether there is a history of violence at an address, with supervisors telling paramedics to wait for police to arrive on scene before they treat victims.

Tony Armstrong, Acting Assistant Commissioner for Queensland Ambulance Service Gold Coast, said substance abuse, mixed with a bad person, was normally the catalyst.

“We have a zero tolerance for assaults, we wish it didn’t happen, but unfortunately we work in an unpredictable environment,” he said.

“It’s mainly a mixture of a bad person, intoxication or under the influence of drugs.

“They (paramedics) are coming to help people in their most vulnerable time. Just don’t punch paramedics. It’s pretty simple.”

He said the improvement in training and identifying potentially dangerous situations was helping to keep them safe.

“There is a requirement for our staff to do ongoing safe training. It provides them with the knowledge and the tools to identify where there may be a situation where they are at risk and they need to remove themselves from that.

“It’s about situational awareness, looking at the risk factors and how to get out of the situation if they’re in it, it’s about identifying it early and not getting in a situation where they have to get out.

“If we know we’re going to someone who is potentially highlighted as a high risk, they’ll get flagged in the system and ... those paramedics will get asked to wait until police come or we have a supervisor there to assess the situation.”

Mr Armstrong said ambulance officers were more comfortable reporting assaults and threats today than in the past.

United Voice Ambulance coordinator Fiona Scalon said one assault was too many, but the union was happy with the training in place by QAS.