Paramedic UK » violence

Ambulance no-go zones

Editor — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:35:03 +0000

It goes without saying that attacks on emergency service personnel going about their business are entirely unacceptable.

The question is: what do we do about it?

The easiest part of that question to answer is how we take care of such workers, especially ambulance and fire service staff who should not be expected to have to protect themselves.

In an ideal world, police would always be able to offer that protection. But this is impractical, as police numbers are already stretched without patrol cars riding shotgun every time an ambulance or a fire tender is called out to a remotely dodgy area.

It is shocking that we even have to consider such an option – though clearly there is a real need to provide such cover.

About once a month a Lothians paramedic is attacked as they respond to emergency calls. Incidents have included staff being kicked and bitten, and “spit kits” are being issued so DNA can be used to pursue attackers.

via Edinburgh Evening News .

Paramedic assault man told he could be jailed

Editor — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:53:49 +0000

A drunken man who assaulted a paramedic as he tried to help him has been warned he faces a possible prison sentence.

Passers-by were so concerned when they saw Barry James Jones, 60, of Fowler Road in Blacon, Chester, asleep on a grass verge that they tried to wake him up and then called an ambulance.

Read full article: Chester Evening Leader .

Mexico: Criminals blow up ambulance to kill injured rival

Editor — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:37:34 +0000

A group of armed men blew up an ambulance Friday, apparently with a grenade, to kill a rival who was being transferred from one hospital to another, officials said.

The state attorney general’s office in the western Mexican state of Michoacan said the ambulance had just left the Hospital Civil in the town of Uruapan to take a 24 year-old-man to a hospital in the Michoacan capital Morelia, about 300 kilometres west of Mexico City.

The man had been injured Sunday in a shootout, allegedly with a rival group.

Read full article: Earth Times.

OAP slapped paramedic who tried to help him

Editor — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 06:40:08 +0000

A pensioner who slapped a paramedic as he tried to resuscitate him has been told to clean up his act.

Richard Carl Bristow, 69, pleaded guilty to assault by beating after ambulance crews arrived to find him passed out at the Oddfellows Arms in Chester.

Rob Youds, prosecuting, said Bristow, of St Anne Street, Newtown, had gone to the pub after doinADVERTISEMENTg some shopping at Iceland.

Read full article: Chester Evening Leader.

Paramedic punched in face by patient: Man arrested

Editor — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 13:11:06 +0000

Two paramedics needed hospital treatment when they were attacked by their patient.

Police were called to assist the paramedics at 2.15am on Thursday after they were called to help a man in Farnworth.

The man punched one them in the face. It is believed the other paramedic was injured when he fell as he tried to help his colleague.

Asiya Jelani, of the North West Ambulance Service, said: “Both members of the ambulance crew sustaining injuries which required hospital treatment. The police were called and the patient was arrested.”

Read full article: This Is Lancashire.

Drunk Sussex teen broke medic’s finger (From The Argus)

Editor — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 07:54:17 +0000

A drunken teenage girl who broke a paramedic’s finger has been ordered to pay him £1,200 in compensation.

Hayley Cooke, 18, tried to punch paramedic Jonathan Busst when he was trying to help her.

He blocked the blow, but she pulled back his finger.

At Brighton Magistrates Court Cooke, of Crest Way, Portslade, admitted assault causing actual bodily harm

Read full article: The Argus

Jail for 999 attack thugs

Editor — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 07:09:15 +0000

Two thugs were today behind bars after launching sickening attacks on 999 workers in Blackpool.

Teen yob Jordan Hampson punched a policeman – breaking his nose – before turning his rage on a hospital security guard.

James Gould, 63, attacked an ambulance technician who was trying to help him – battering him with his walking stick. Both attackers have now been locked up.

Hampson struck after a booze fuelled night in Blackpool.

Read full article: Blackpool Today.

300 addresses in Wales where ambulance crews face danger

Editor — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 07:12:06 +0000

Almost 300 addresses in Wales have been “flagged” as potential problems by the Welsh Ambulance Service, Plaid Cymru AM Janet Ryder has been told.

The risk of violent assaults has led to the police being required to attend many times, according to information given to the AM for North Wales.

Fifty four of the homes are in North Wales and mean ambulance crews may be advised to attend only with police present.

Read full article: Evening Leader.

Street paramedic plan to treat binge-drinkers

Editor — Tue, 26 May 2009 06:58:18 +0000

Binge-drinkers who get into fights or fall over and hurt themselves will soon have their own street paramedic to tend their injuries.

North-East NHS officials are planning to use Government funds to pay for an ambulance paramedic to be based in Darlington town centre.

The idea is that the paramedic will be on hand to deal with casualties who have either injured themselves or been hurt in scuffles.

Read full article: Northern Echo

A night of drunken shame on Scotland’s emergency frontline

Editor — Mon, 25 May 2009 14:34:12 +0000

Alcohol related incidents are estimated to cost the Scottish Ambulance service £31.5 million a year, but this may well be an underestimate. The statistic is sobering – but the hard reality is even stronger.

A night with Scotland’s paramedics runs from the nice housing “estates” to the “schemes”, all to deal with over-imbibers. In the debate on how to address Scotland’s battle with booze, the ambulance service, the frontline in that battle, is too often overlooked.

We hear reports of drunks kicking off in police cells and A&E departments and assaulting police officers and nursing staff, but what about the ambulance staff who are often first on the scene?

Read full article: Edinburgh Evening News.