Sunshine Coast paramedics face increasing violence
Mon 29 June 2009
Tom Williams, Journalism
Local ambulance officers are being physically and verbally attacked on a regular basis, preventing them from saving lives on the Sunshine Coast.
Serious verbal and physical assaults on Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) officers were becoming a regular occurrence on the Sunshine Coast, with drugs, alcohol and a general lack of responsibility seen by many as major contributing factors.
A QAS paramedic, who did not want to be named, said the problem of violence towards paramedics had been increasing.
The paramedic said that people did not respect ambulance officers and saw them as the enemy rather than assistance in a time of need.
“Some people are mongrels and they just don’t care...It’s becoming a common occurrence in our workplace,” he said.
Sunshine Coast police officer Senior Constable Peter Hatch agreed with the paramedic, and said that both police and ambulance officers were not being shown the respect they deserved.
“Violence does happen, absolutely,” Sen-Constable Hatch said.
“There is a great deal of lack of respect towards police and ambulance officers out there.”
Sen-Constable Hatch also linked violence toward paramedics with the use of illicit drugs and the overconsumption of alcohol.
“They are usually drug affected, intoxicated, or both,” Sen-Constable Hatch said.
“Very rarely, if ever, have I seen a regular person off the street giving a hard time to the ambos, it’s usually people who are under the influence.”
The Queensland Criminal Code was amended in 2007 to include a maximum penalty of seven years imprisonment for a serious assault against an ambulance officer.
However, Emergency Medical Service Protection Association (EMSPA) vice-president Jock Ruthven said that the amendment had made little difference.
“Unfortunately, you’re dealing nowadays with a society that doesn’t think about the consequences of their actions,” Mr Ruthven said.
Some members of the public argued that paramedics should be armed with a non-lethal weapon such as capsicum spray.
Mr Ruthven, despite being attacked several times in his career, said this would only add to the problem.
“I’ve been attacked myself quite seriously...I’ve been hit with an axe,” Mr Ruthven said.
“Capsicum spray, in our roll, has no place ... it means we are equipped for aggression, and in our job we need to have a certain amount of trust.”
Sen-Constable Hatch said that paramedics were not trained to use weapons such as capsicum spray, and self defence training coupled with courts handing out harsh sentences could be the solution to this ongoing problem.
Mr Ruthven agreed, saying that although violence would always be a small part of the job, correct training for paramedics was the answer to the problem.
“I advocate self defence training ... St John’s ambulance in New Zealand runs a course which is compulsory before you are allowed to go out on the road ... this would be good for Queensland,” Mr Ruthven said.
Sen-Constable Hatch said that violence towards paramedics on the Sunshine Coast would not be tolerated.
“You don’t call the ambulance for any other reason than you need help, so why would you assault them,” Sen-Constable Hatch said.
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