Queensland ambulance officers demand harsher penalties on offenders who assault paramedics

THERE was a moment of silence before the patient started thrashing around violently in the back of the ambulance. Seconds later, a young paramedic was attacked in one of Brisbane’s busiest tunnels.

# SUNDAY MAIL ONLY # 24 year old Paramedics Ben Elliot photographed here at Queensland Ambulance headquarter 14/1/2016. Ben was allegedly punched by a patient while on transit to a hospital. Pictures: Jack Tran ###PICTURES FOR THE SUNDAY MAIL ONLY###

IT happened quickly: there was a moment of silence before the patient started thrashing around violently in the back of the ambulance.

Hannah Minehan was trapped. Cruising through Brisbane’s Airport Link tunnel as her patient belted the windows and doors, she yelled for her work partner to pull the vehicle over.

“There was initial shock it was actually happening before I became worried for my own safety obviously trying to get out the back of the car,” she says.

Hannah and her work partner Ben Elliot – who was driving the ambulance – jumped out of the vehicle, slamming the doors closed behind them.

Ben never even saw the punch coming. With little sign of the incident easing, and a high threat of cars coming around the corner at high speeds just behind them, he realised he had to act.

He explains he opened the sliding door of the ambulance to let the patient out.

“I beckoned him to move to the side of the tunnel and stand against the wall,” Ben says.

“It looked he was compliant with the request but unfortunately he just turned around and punched me with a closed fist.”

Despite the incident, Ben says he continues to feel a powerful devotion to all his patients – to the point he returned to work that evening after receiving treatment from medical staff.

“We do deal with people in crisis, so it’s quite common for people to raise their voice or become frustrated in certain situations,” he says.

“It feels like we’re walking on eggshells at the moment as we get back on our feet and try to get our confidence back. It does knock you around a little bit.”

Ambulance officers are demanding harsher penalties on offenders who assault paramedics as part of measures to address the problem.

The disturbing number of ambulance attacks.

It comes as initiatives, including the rollout of CCTV cameras in the back of ambulances, are being ­investigated by the taskforce established to deal with rising assaults against the frontline medicos.

More self-defence training also will likely be included among the recommendations set to be handed to the State Government in a report compiled by the taskforce.

Paramedics Australasia dire­ctor Neil Noble said the ­judiciary needed to start using the full range of their powers to enforce maximum penalties on offenders.

“We know they’re not doing that at the moment,” Mr Noble said. “We’re not aware of any significant penalty against any member of the public who has assaulted an ambulance officer.

“This is the only measure needed but we’re hoping it will serve as a greater ­deterrent.”

The maximum penalty in Queensland for anyone who assaults a “public officer”, including police, ambulance and fire workers, is 14 years’ jail.

Figures provided by the Queensland Ambulance Service show assaults have risen from 142 recorded physical attacks across the state in 2011-12 up to 170 attacks in the past ­financial year.

Brisbane north senior operations supervisor Matt McGregor said assaults often also came from bystanders.

“Sometimes you’ll get the patient’s friends becoming ­aggressive towards you when you’re only there to help them,” he said.

“That can be a real problem because you don’t always see it coming if they’re not on scene when you first arrive.”

Ambulance Commissioner Russell Bowles was reluctant to back the call for harsher punishments, preferring to concentrate on taskforce discussions, including the use of new technologies.

“There’s talk of putting cameras in the back of the ­ambulances,” Mr Bowles said following a meeting by the taskforce at emergency services headquarters in Kedron.

“But there’s a whole suite of things that need to come together to address this problem. There is no silver bullet.”

He also emphasised more “situational awareness training” for paramedics, including basic self-defence lessons provided in part by police.

“It’s not about being the ­jujitsu champion,” Mr Bowles said. “And the latest evidence the police discussed today said if you try to do too much, it’s dangerous because it can ­escalate the situation.”

Instead, he flagged placing more emphasis on risk assessments before embarking on a job. He said if workers felt there was a threat to their safety, they needed to leave.

“We just have to give the paramedics the autonomy to make their decisions on their own,” Mr Bowles said.

To help improve communication between agencies, State Government has been rolling out digital radios to replace the old analog system used between emergency services.

Dubbed the “Government Wireless Network”, it includes duress alarms with GPS tracking attached to individual ­radios on frontline workers.

United Voice union secretary Gary Bullock said many of their members wanted more access to information about patients before they go to a job.

He said this would help ­ensure paramedics have the “most up-to-date info about residents or patients where they have a violent history”.

“There also needs to be a cultural shift within the ­community,” Mr Bullock said. “Ambulance officers are not only vital professionals saving the lives of Queenslanders every day but they’re also someone’s mother, father, brother or sister and their families deserve to have them home safe at the end of a shift.”

The taskforce plans to finalise recommendations by April.