Paramedics allegedly pelted with rocks while treating patient in Alice Springs

An ambulance and its crew were allegedly pelted with rocks while trying to treat a patient on Tuesday morning.

A St John Ambulance paramedic at work. A St John Ambulance vehicle and its crew were allegedly pelted with rocks while trying to treat a patient in Alice Springs on Tuesday morning.

AN ambulance and its crew were allegedly pelted with rocks while trying to treat a patient in Central Australia on Tuesday morning.

Southern Watch Commander Jared Thompson said St John Ambulance paramedics had been treating an injured person in Alice Springs at 4.30am when a group of alleged offenders had begun throwing rocks.

“They called police to help them,” he said.

“They were uninjured but the ambulance was slightly damaged.”

“On police arrival all of the offenders ran away but this allowed the ambulance (officers) to keep going with their job and care for their injured person.”

St John NT Regional Manager Southern Paul Bellman said it was the second time in two weeks that items had been thrown at a St John vehicle.

He said the behaviour was becoming part of a pattern of increasing violence towards St John NT paramedics.

“This is no way acceptable, our staff are trying to do their job and care for people in our community,” he said.

“If it is unsafe, we will not enter a location and we will not be able to perform our role.

“If we need police support for our safety, this may lead to delays in patient care, putting lives at risk and also putting an unnecessary strain on police resourcing.

“Again we have a damaged vehicle.

“This incident could have placed our crew at risk – we will not tolerate this.”

“We urge the public to pay us the respect to do our job, these incidents impact on our ability to provide a service to the community.”

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In the Top End, Northern Watch Commander Gavin Kennedy said before midnight police were called to a disturbance in Woodroffe involving a 20-year-old man being monitored with an ankle bracelet.

The man left the Palmerston home in a Nissan sedan before police arrived.

“A search for the vehicle was unsuccessful until a report from the public was received that a grey Nissan sedan had crashed into a culvert at the corner of Stuart Hwy and Lambrick Ave, several kilometres from where it was last seen by Police,” Watch Cmdr Kennedy said.

“The male has self-extracted from the crashed vehicle and flagged down a passing motorist for a lift and was driven to an address in Callistemon Dr, Howard Springs.”

Police attempted to track the man, however he cut off his ankle bracelet.

Police are continuing search efforts.

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Anyone with information or dashcam footage is urged to notify police on 131444 or anonymously via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.