The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Assaults rise on front-line staff
Ambulance service personnel face more attacks
New figures reveal that there were 232 physical assaults against East of England Ambulance Service staff in 2015/16, compared to 195 in 2014/15. Criminal sanctions were also brought against 66 people in the last year.
Chief Executive Robert Morton said: “It is appalling that some people are violent towards our staff when they are trying to help and provide the best possible care to patients. There’s no excuse for attacks on our staff.
“One assault against a colleague is one too many and can have a devastating impact on individuals and their families.
“It is unacceptable and we work closely with police to ensure that criminal proceedings are brought against those who attack front-line staff.”
Of the 232 physical assaults in 2015/16, 20 were on staff in the north of Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough.
Among the staff who were targeted, one paramedic was punched and bitten by a man who was given an unpaid work order and ordered to pay £100 compensation, while emergency medical technician Graham Hillman was on duty in Huntingdon last October when he was called to an intoxicated patient who lashed out and broke his glasses. He was then spat at.
His attacker was jailed for 16 weeks and ordered to pay £125 compensation.
He said: “It is one of the most disgusting things that one person can do to another. Lashing out is bad enough, but spitting is disgusting. It makes me more wary and realise that not everyone is grateful to see us or fully in control.
“It is not the first time I have experienced violence, but is the first time I felt it needed to be reported and press charges. The sentence validates the view that this behaviour is totally unacceptable. We were off the road for four hours because of what he did.
“As 999 emergency ambulance staff, our only concern for our patients is to help them in every way that we can. We should be able to do this without fear of being attacked, assaulted or having our personal property damaged in the process of doing so .”