MEDICAL ALARM

STATS REVEAL SHOCKING AMBO ABUSE

PARAMEDICS are being subjected to verbal and physical violence at an alarming rate across the Townsville region, with an incident nearly reported every week.

Paramedics lodged almost 50 complaints in the 2017-18 financial year, figures compiled by the Queensland Ambulance Service reveal. Of those, 24 were reported as a “deliberate physical contact” while 25 were verbal threats.

There was no change from figures in the previous 12 months, despite the overall number of complaints from across the state trending downwards.

In Queensland there were 280 complaints of physical violence and verbal threats to June last year, compared with 328 the previous year.

From July to October 30, 12 instances of physical assault and 12 instances of verbal threats were reported in the Townsville region.

In November, a 40-year-old was granted bail following the alleged assault of two paramedics as they treated a patient in Gulliver.

The two paramedics received minor injuries but did not go to hospital.

Townsville QAS acting assistant commissioner Amanda Harper said any form of viol- ence against paramedics, whether it be physical or verbal, was “unacceptable”.

“One incident is one too many,” she said. “We do treat every deliberate, physical attack very seriously.

“We have a very close working relationship with the Queensland Police Service that every physical attack and verbal threat that is reported is followed up.”

She said the slight rise in the number of incidents could be attributed to an increase in reporting by staff.

Former paramedic and now Thuringowa MP Aaron Harper said it was concerning numbers had plateaued in Townsville.

“I believe there is always more to be done, and educating the public is just one aspect of that,” Mr Harper said.

“As a result of this I will be following this information up with the Minister for Health to see what more could possibly be done for the Townsville region.

“Paramedics deserve to go home safe after a shift. They are not punching bags for those who may be intoxicated or drug-affected. In my years I certainly saw and experienced abusive patients that fell into the category above.”

According to the latest Public Performance Indicators report by QAS, the Townsville region is currently ranked third worst on the “crew safety index,” which is based on the rate of physical and verbal abuse directed at paramedics per 100,000 hours worked.

With an index of 11.7, Townsville was ranked behind only the Gold Coast and Torres and Cape regions for abuse against QAS staff.

United Voice Queensland co-ordinator Fiona Scalon said everyone deserved the right to go to work and come home safely.

“We have been working with the Queensland Ambulance Service on a range of initiatives to reduce both physical and verbal violence,” she said.

“Overall, it’s promising to see incidents are decreasing across the state. However, we will continue to work with our members to identify any further action that can be taken to see reductions in every region.”