Overview
- Ambulance Victoria says attacks have increased since November, with the current period described by a regional director as the worst in 30 years for severity.
- In one three-day window over Christmas, the organisation recorded 10 very serious offences against paramedics.
- Reported incidents include a crew rammed by a car, a cricket-bat threat, repeated punching, spitting, and a female paramedic inappropriately touched on December 27.
- Leaders say perpetrators now extend beyond patients to bystanders and relatives, with alcohol and drug use frequently cited as contributing factors.
- Paramedic Luke Harrington detailed being cornered and spat on in a Rowville car park as the assailant smashed the ambulance window and tried to block the vehicle.