The paramedic managed to climb back into his vehicle, but the aggressive man smashed on his window, swearing as he tried to jump on the ambulance before police arrived.
“I think we were just lucky in that situation to get away,” Harrington says.
Gorman said the frequency of attacks had increased since November, but she was particularly concerned that the severity of assaults had worsened too.
“It’s the worst I’ve ever seen it in 30 years of emergency work,” she says.
“I’ve physically had my wrist broken. I’ve been spat on, kicked, punched multiple times throughout my career, but I’ve never seen it as bad as it is now, in regards to the severity of assaults taking place.”
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On December 27, a patient stroked a female paramedic’s inner thigh and continued the unwanted touching, even after more crew arrived.
Gorman said that sexual assault was particularly shocking.
“In a three-day window, we had 10 very serious offences perpetrated against our paramedics, which has caused us today to step out as an organisation and as regional leaders to say: Enough is enough.”
She described violence inflicted upon emergency workers as a global epidemic.
Burns said patients were often the perpetrators of paramedic assaults, but bystanders and relatives were increasingly aggressive.
Andrew Burns, director of Ambulance Victoria operations in western Melbourne, alongside Vanessa Gorman, who manages eastern Melbourne.Credit: Simon Schluter
He was unable to cite specific assault numbers for December compared to previous years but said “ridiculous levels” of abuse over the Christmas period indicated the problem was worsening.
“I think rather than talking to the specific numbers, it’s the trend and the severity that is grossly concerning,” he said.
“We’ve had crews whipped by stethoscope. We’ve had crews have to abandon the ambulance whilst a patient destroyed the back of the ambulance.”
Paramedics Luke Harrington and Alex Hemsley.Credit: Simon Schluter
Harrington, meanwhile, has been a paramedic for seven years and describes violence towards him as part of the reality of his profession. Spitting was not uncommon.
“I wish that I could say that this was the first time it’s happened to me, but almost an identical situation happened about 18 months ago,” he said.
“It was the same thing, a stranger came and pulled the window down, essentially, and spat on me again.”
He later added: “I got into this job to help people on their worst day … which is why it’s even more disappointing that this stuff happens.”
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