Rise in attacks against East of England Ambulance Service staff
They're launching a new campaign aiming to safeguard staff from physical, verbal, or emotional harm
There's a rise in violence and aggression towards staff in ambulance services in the East of England.
This comes as the Ambulance Service Trust that covers the area is launching a new campaign aiming to safeguard staff from physical, verbal, or emotional harm.
It's scary and not what we are there for
The launch of the 'Your Safety, Our Priority' campaign follows 1,455 recorded attacks on staff last year – up 18% on 2022.
Of these incidents, 362 were physical assaults, 522 were verbal in nature, and 571 were instances of non-physical abuse such as aggressive gestures and intimidating behaviour towards staff.
The focus of the Trust's new campaign is on what staff can do themselves to safeguard from harm and how the Trust will support them if they do suffer abuse.
Joanna Dickson, an ambulance worker in Huntingdon who was sexually assaulted whilst at work, said:
"It's scary, it's definitely not acceptable and not what we are there for. We are there to help people."
"You get put into an awkward situation really."
"I know deep down how people would want to react but obviously you don't do that."
"We ask them to stop and not speak to us like that or not touch us like that. Sometimes people listen but sadly a lot of the time they don't."
"The body-warn-cameras that were introduced are brilliant."
"It helps deter the patients from carrying out those actions. They're a bit more wary that we have the ability now to record their behaviour."
It is completely unacceptable
The campaign features a range of resources aimed at helping keep staff safe, including case studies, videos, guidance packs, and online Q&A sessions.
The campaign also highlights the importance of using body-worn cameras – which have to be activated by the ambulance worker but can record footage for use in a later prosecution.
The cameras were piloted in 2022 and are being rolled out across EEAST, with all staff encouraged to wear them for their protection.
The campaign is being led by the EEAST's Health, Safety and Security specialist Alistair Livingstone. He said:
'We see too many incidents where our colleagues are attacked – either physically or verbally – when they are there doing their job in difficult circumstances to help people in their time of need.'
'It is completely unacceptable.'
'We're doing all we can to support our staff if they are confronted or physically attacked.'
'In the coming months we're introducing a new training programme for our people to recognise and assess the risk of potentially dangerous situations, and how to get away to safety.'