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Aussie ambulance officers "blacklist" 1,200 locations after repeated assaults

Xinhua, March 7, 2016 Adjust font size:

Paramedics in the Australian state of Victoria don't answer medical call-outs to almost 1,200 locations due to repeated violent attacks sustained in the line of duty, a report has revealed.

Data obtained under Australia's Freedom of Information (FOI) laws, published on Monday, showed Ambulance Victoria has blacklisted 1,171 areas in the state in response to assaults on their members.

Paramedics will not venture out to these so-called "no-go zones" unless they are accompanied by a police escort due to the high risk of assault.

The number of these unsafe hotspots is also on the rise, with a three-fold increase recorded across some of Melbourne's suburbs.

Throughout the state, the number of these "no-go zones" has jumped by almost a quarter from 2010 levels.

The alarming new data has been linked to the epidemic-level use of the drug ice, a potent, crystalized form of methamphetamine.

A recent study showed that almost half of Australian adults had taken an illicit substance at least once, a statistic that Victoria's Assistance Police Commissioner, Steve Fontana, last week described as a "national disgrace".

Ambulance Victoria Acting General Manager of Emergency Operations, Mick Stephenson, said his organization had been working closely with Victoria Police to identify problematic areas in a bid to help paramedics avert potential injury or death.

"Some of that will be drug affected people, including ice affected, but also a lot of it is to do with domestic violence and alcohol abuse," Stephenson told News Corp on Monday.

"We're seeing on average now about one paramedic a day is being abused or assaulted.

"Paramedics should certainly not put themselves at risk because there's no benefit to anyone if they get smacked up of stabbed or shot at."

Victoria's Health Minister Jill Hennessy echoed that view, telling paramedics to make a "tough call" and refuse treatment if they felt the working environment was unsafe.

"There are consequences, they may not just be legal, but you may forfeit your right to care if you are going to be violent towards a paramedic," Hennessy told reporters on Monday. Endit