Ambos facing violence at work

The union representing ambulance officers wants the Government to consider extending the penalties for attacking policemen to apply ambulance officers, too. Research shows ambulance officers to be increasingly at risk on the streets.

Ambulance paramedic Paul Alexander has had a used syringe full of fluid squirted into his eye. He also describes an incident in which two of his colleagues were assaulted on the same job. “One of them had a huge chunk bitten out of his arm.”

It is confronting to learn that amidst the stretchers, syringes, masks and panic that accompany emergencies, the people sent out to rescue and heal are becoming victims themselves. Figures released last month by the clinical risk department of the NSW Ambulance service show that assaults on paramedics have increased by 60 per cent since last year. Over 120 paramedics were assaulted in NSW in the last 12 months.

“It’s a real concern, and it’s something that we’re vigilant about,” Paul Alexander says. The damage isn’t always physical. “We certainly cop a lot of verbal abuse on a regular basis.”

It’s not at every emergency, but it’s enough to be a fear in the back of the mind. The tension of an emergency can be volatile, and people can act out-of-character due of fear, anxiety, frustration and a sense of powerlessness. Alcohol and substance abuse can affect the situation as well.

The question now being asked is whether the drug ice is responsible for the increase.

The entry onto the scene of this high-purity form of methamphetamine can be seen to have left a trail of destruction. In 2006 the NSW State Government commissioned a report examining the possible links between ice and violent behaviour, and its effects on crime. And it is ambos who have actually seen the after effects of ice at first hand.

“It is probably going to be the worst drug that this country has ever seen,” says Paul Alexander, who describes the devastation caused by ice to be worlds apart from that of heroin.

“Chalk and cheese,” he says. “The people who use it have no idea what the drug’s been cut with. They become psychotic, dangerous, irrational, violent. “I have had someone on ice throw me across a room.” Paul Alexander says it took eight people to restrain this one violent user.

At this stage, nobody has adequate knowledge or training to deal with ice addicts. “We’re using the police and extra staff,” says intensive care paramedic Adam Butt. “We only have a limited range of medications that we can give.”

Bob Morgan, industrial officer for the Health Services Union, agrees. “Anecdotal information is that ice has increased violent incidents, and that the nature of the violent behaviour of ice-affected persons is more extreme. However, excessive alcohol is still reportedly the greatest trigger for violent events.”

Statistics from 2004 indicate 3.2 per cent of Australians were ice users, so its use is still minor compared to excessive alcohol use all over Australia.

The NSW Government launched a campaign supporting the work of paramedics last year with the first annual ‘Thank A Paramedic Day’. The campaign aims to increase respect for paramedics within the community.

Former Health Minister John Della Bosca announced last month he hadn’t ruled out a policy to protect paramedics with stab-proof vests. Alexander says says that while this would prevent more victims, it does not tackle the root of the problem.

One suggestion to curb the violence has been to increase penalties for offenders. The maximum penalty for assault on a police officer in NSW is five years in prison, as compared to two years for assault on a civilian.

The Health Services Union (HSU) is calling for people who assault ambulance officers to be punished in the same way as those who assault police officers.

“It is acknowledged that it is an offence to assault or interfere in a police officer carrying out their duty to uphold the law, and maintain peace and good order. Ambulance officers (and other emergency workers) are also required to respond to emergencies and to provide, in the case of ambulance officers, lifesaving clinical interventions in an emergency and uncontrolled environment,” says Bob Morgan.

“It is only logical that the same protection should be afforded to a paramedic providing lifesaving clinical assistance to the public. Not to provide such protection not only imperils the ambo, but also the patient!”

Mr Morgan says that while the HSU hasn’t been running a specific media campaign on the issue, it has been negotiating at a political level. It may well be raised at the National Council of Ambulance Unions when they meet in the near future.

This amendment in legislation has already been enacted in Victoria, where assaulting a paramedic became a specific offence in 2004. Industrial action from the paramedic union there brought about the change. Similar calls have been made in Queensland after numerous assaults on paramedics in Cairns.

Ambulance officers welcome the change. “We should have a right to carry out our duties without being harmed,” says Adam Butt.

“We quite often share the same dangers as police,” says Paul Alexander.

Bob Morgan says one of the things that can be done to enhance the job safety is that the public needs to be “properly educated that interfering with paramedics in the course of their duties is not only socially unacceptable, but that there is a significant penalty involved for any and all infractions”.

A change in the law may be slow to take effect. Until then, paramedics are on the road, on the scene. “I think that ambos have a really good built-in radar system,” says Paul Alexander. “It is something that you acquire on the road”.

Lucie Robson