The Victorian Ambulance Union (VAU), for the second week running, is pleading with the community to treat paramedics and first responders with dignity and respect after a pregnant paramedic was assaulted in Heidelberg.
VAU secretary Danny Hill said the paramedic had “literally saved this patient's life and then, while they were offloading the patient at the hospital the [patient] lashed out, punched the paramedic in the head and in the stomach while she's 12 weeks pregnant.”
“The paramedic has now had to make the sad decision to come off-road; a difficult choice for a dedicated paramedic who wanted to work on-road for as long as she could but can no longer risk placing her unborn child at that level of risk every day.”
The assault follows last week’s news of a paramedic stabbed during a paid coffee break in Reservoir.
Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jordan Emery described the “appalling trend” of escalating violence against first responders. He said he met with Ambulance Victoria Board Chair Andrew Crisp and VAU’s Mr Hill to discuss a "united approach" to addressing violence against first responders.
In a statement to news outlets Mr Emery said, “Our people have my full support to stand-off or leave a situation if their safety is in danger, even if this means withdrawing care. Paramedics and first responders simply cannot care for Victorians if their safety is compromised.”
The VAU says that paramedics across the state experienced more than 1,000 hazardous incidents in the last financial year and they call on the State government to address the issue of violence and aggression against their members.
Please help paramedics by being respectful and letting them save lives without fearing for their own.
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