 And they said the problem has been made worse by Tory cuts to policing, because back-up is no longer always available. Crew members at South Central Ambulance Service have reported being kicked, punched, headbutted, bitten, scratched, slapped and spat at, all while trying to save lives. Some reported being sexually assaulted while others had missiles hurled at them. North East Ambulance Service had recorded injuries to every part of the body, including broken limbs – with one crew member even being choked. Meanwhile, a worker in the East Midlands suffered such a bad head injury he was left concussed. And on the Isle of Wight, a catalogue of horrific incidents saw one crew member being bitten on the arm, kicked in the abdomen and ribs and punched in the head. Another had a jug of urine thrown at them, one was hit by a heavy backpack hurled by the patient's partner and another had her breast grabbed. Kelvin Hurd says violence has become part of the job ( Kelvin Hurd) Kelvin Hurd, who has been a paramedic for more than 20 years, says violence has become part of){kind=link}
Paramedics told the Sunday People how slow ambulance response times were fuelling verbal abuse, while a growing mental health crisis was behind soaring violence
Paramedics are regularly kicked, headbutted and spat at, a shocking Sunday People investigation has found.
On average, crew members were abused or assaulted more than once every hour last year.
We also found physical and verbal attacks on ambulance workers have soared 65% in five years.
Some 9,522 reports were recorded by nine of England’s 11 ambulance trusts last year â up from 5,773 in 2017.