Physical and verbal attacks on ambulance crews in Scotland rise

Ambulance crews in Scotland are increasingly at risk of having a knife or a bottle pulled out on them at work.

Figures from the Scottish Ambulance Service shared exclusively with Clyde 1 show there were 328 incidents of abuse towards staff between October 2022 and October 2023.

Our reporter Callum McQuade shadowed a team in Glasgow during a busy Friday nightshift.

One hundred and seventy-six of these incidents happened in the West of the country this year alone.

In the East, there have been 123 incidents of physical or verbal abuse, and in the North there have been 27.

Paramedic Ellie Hill said: "Sadly those figures are not a surprise, we have all had our fair share of our safety being compromised which we would never wish on anyone else.

"It is unfortunately just part of the job.

"People can be disrespectful towards for lots of reasons - they could be intoxicated or suffer with mental health issues."

Crews all over Scotland also have to deal with 124 incidents of verbal abuse in the last 12 months which includes threats on their life and threats to injure with weapons.

People are being asked to drink responsibly ahead of what is expected to be one of the busiest weekends of the entire year.

Ellie added: "The Christmas party season is challenging because lots of crews are often dragged into city centres meaning there are other patients we can not get to.

"While all of this is going on there are still the jobs we would be called out to at any other time of the year such as road traffic collisions, chest pains and mental health problems.

"The best advice I could give to people would be to have a plan for how you are getting home and to eat something before drinking alcohol."

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