MurrayMacGregor – Monday 31st August 2020 – 1.00pm.
Two ambulance staff have been injured after being assaulted whilst trying to treat a man.
The crew were called to outside 150 High Street, Coleshill at about 6.10pm on Sunday evening to reports of a middle aged man who was unconscious after falling.
Whilst there the man hit out at the crew and tried to break one of the windows of the ambulance.
Police and a paramedic operations manager were sent to the scene.
The man was taken to Good Hope Hospital by the crew.
The crew activated the CCTV in the ambulance and were also wearing body cameras as part of a trial.
While at hospital the man became verbally abusive and police were again called to the scene.
One crew member suffered a dislocated thumb; the other had chest and arm injuries and both had to receive treatment at hospital before being discharged. They are likely to be off work for some time.
Assistant Ambulance Chief Officer, Andrew Proctor, said: “Our staff come to work to help people in their hour of need.
“It is never acceptable for our staff to be either verbally or physically abused.
“We have now lost two members of staff from frontline operations while they recover which will have an inevitable impact on our ability to respond to patients in a timely manner.
“We will be pushing for the courts to take the toughest possible action in this and every such case so that people know that it is not acceptable.
“We know from the feedback we receive from the public that they find such actions abhorrent, so we hope the courts will reflect the strength of that feeling.”
Ends