Ambulance crews in Victoria are increasingly encountering dangerous situations, with reports of being rammed by vehicles, assaulted with punches, and threatened with weapons like cricket bats. This alarming trend has been highlighted by Ambulance Victoria, raising concerns about the safety of paramedics on duty.
On December 22, paramedic Luke Harrington found himself in a perilous situation when an individual turned violent during a routine call. “He began hitting the ambulance, hurling insults, and then escalated by confronting me directly and spitting on my neck,” Harrington recounted.
The risk of encountering violence has become so significant that paramedics have been instructed to withhold treatment from anyone exhibiting aggressive behavior.
“In my 30 years of emergency service, I’ve never seen it this bad,” stated Vanessa Gorman, Ambulance Victoria’s Metropolitan Director of Regional and Clinical Operations. “The severity of these incidents is unprecedented.”
“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it in 30 years of emergency work,” Ambulance Victoria Metropolitan Director of Regional and Clinical Operations Vanessa Gorman said.
“It’s probably worse in regards to the severity of what is occurring.”
Ambulance Victoria is now urging the public to respect frontline workers.
“We stand here united to say this is not okay and it has to stop,” Â Ambulance Victoria Metropolitan Director of Regional and Clinical Operations Andrew Burns said.
“Even over the last four days whilst everyone’s enjoying Christmas, our staff have endured ridiculous levels of both verbal assault through the use of revolting language and verbal intimidation, through to physical contact in both sexual assault and physical assault.”
