Assaults on St John Ambulance staff are rising but only a small number of addresses are “red-flagged” as risky to visit.
New Zealand Ambulance Association chairman Mark Quin said there had been an increase of both verbal and physical assaults on paramedics by the public, in line with similar statistics concerning nurses and doctors at emergency departments.
“There is not one single factor but contributing influences are alcohol, recreational drugs, psychiatric presentations, public’s expectations and frustration with the health system generally.”
He said part of the issue was single crewing and lack of funding.
St John district operations manager for Hawke’s Bay and Manawatu Steve Yanko has previously said they were seeing an increase in verbal abuse and intimidation.
Incidents In Manawatu included an officer being pushed to the ground and held down, while another saw an officer suffer a broken nose from a punch.
“We’re used to people being emotionally charged, and we’re trained in how to talk people down, but now we’re seeing those strategies are not working and people just lash out. Now it’s got nasty,” Yanko said.
Addresses are red-flagged in the St John system with a cautionary note to prevent risk to ambulance officers.
A St John spokeswoman said those details were operationally sensitive, but dangers could include the presence of hazardous materials, along with potential for violence or abuse.
She said only a very small number of business or residential addresses nationwide were “red-flagged” and they were regularly reviewed.
However, the number of St John ambulance officers assaulted was on the rise.
In the 2014/15 financial year, 52 ambulance officers in New Zealand were reported to be assaulted. In the 2015/16 financial year to date, 45 had been assaulted.
This was an increase from 2013/14 when 25 were assaulted.
Quin said he was aware some addresses were red-flagged.
He thought this was due to information received from a crew after a job where an incident had occurred.
“It would be unfair and discriminatory to be red-flagging addresses without proven facts.”
He said those addresses were treated with caution when crews attended and they were often assisted by police.
The St John spokeswoman said they worked closely with the New Zealand police and fire service to mitigate risks.
They had a zero-tolerance policy toward assaults on staff, though made allowances for patient and bystander emotions, which could run high at emergency incidents.
Source: Stuff