Ambulance chief speaks out after the latest assualt on staff
Crew members in NI have faced more than one attack a day over the past year.
Last updated 11th Oct 2017
The most recent incident took place in Omagh in the early hours of yesterday.
A female paraemedic was trying to help a patient who was having a fitting episode when she was punched and bitten.
She left the scene in an attempt to calm the situation but when she went back a second time to hel the patient she was thrown against the wall and was left with a head injury.
The PSNI then arrived at the scene and arrested the assailant.
Ambulance Service Chief Executive Shane Devlin says it's unacceptable:
"It is not unusual and that is what is really important about this.
"We've had, in the last 12 months, 428 attacks on our Emergency Medical Technicians and our Paramedics which is more than eight a week - over one a day - and this really cannot continue"
A 20 year old woman has been charged with a number of offences in relation to the assault and will appear in court on the 10th of November,
In a statement the NIAS said:
"Calls in early hours of the morning are normally serious in nature and NIAS staff are focussed on providing life-saving care. They do not expect that while providing treatment that they will be assaulted by the actual patient.
"Attacks on our crews continue at a rate of more than 5 a week. This situation is totally unacceptable.
"We have previously talked about the impact that these attacks have on the communities we serve in terms of crews being stood down mid-shift. We have talked about the potential for the loss of life as a result of reduced cover following these assaults.
"While this potential still exists we are even more concerned about the impact of such assaults on the health and well-being of our staff.
"These assaults are not something which our crews are able to forget about within minutes. We have evidence to show how the impact can be felt years later and the event relived at any moment in time.
"NIAS will continue to call for the full rigour of the law to be applied in instances where evidence against an assailant is clear and indisputable.
"We are heartened at some of the recent sentences that have been passed and hope that those who find themselves before the court on such charges will face the real prospect of custodial sentences."