The Health Services Union is calling on the state government to provide more protection for Hunter paramedics after another attack from a patient.
The latest incident occurred on Sunday morning, where a 19-year-old man allegedly bit a local paramedic on the arm, drawing blood.
New South Wales Police and two paramedics were called to a Muswellbrook home proceeding a concern for welfare report.
Health Services Union Secretary Gerard Hayes, says the Premier needs to seriously consider paramedic safety as a priority.
'It;s very simple. The Premier needs to stop quoting about a $5.4billion surplus, and start employing paramedics who can actually change peoples' lives, and resource the ambulance service to a level where paramedic safety can be guaranteed.'
The incident follows a similar attack at Belmont in April this year, where a man assaulted one paramedic and threatened another who were both assisting a pregnant woman.
Mr Hayes says these kinds of incidents are very common, and paramedics deserve significantly more protection.
'The ambulance service is grossly under-resourced, we say a figure of 800 - in fact, it's more like 1,000 extra paramedics that are required. It's really an important issue that needs to be consistently raised about paramedic safety.
'I think it is really important for the community to very clearly tell the government that paramedics need to be protected while they're protecting others.'
The 19-year-old male patient is expected to be charged with assault.
 |
| Image Credit: https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/vic-paramedics-highest-trained-lowest-paid |
