As paramedics face rising violence, some of it while treating people who have taken the drug ice, authorities will mount a social media and advertising campaign in South Australia aimed at making their work safer.
Health Minister Jack Snelling said SA Ambulance had reported a 74 per cent rise in such incidents in the past three years and there had been 125 already this financial year.
“This new campaign emphasises that every interruption an ambo has to deal with prevents them from helping save someone’s life, and that life might be yours,” he said.
Intensive care paramedic Jordan Pring appears in the graphic advertising, which shows a callout rapidly escalating to violence, something he said all ambulance officers were able to relate to.
“This is something that happens, I think it’s safe to say, on a weekly basis to ambos,” he said.
“Personally I have violence and aggression come towards me on a regular basis.
“I’m really excited to be part of a campaign that highlights the fact that violence and aggression towards paramedics is unacceptable.”
Scary for family, friends but also for ambos: union
Ambulance Employees Association official Phil Palmer said the awareness campaign was a valuable way to remind the public that ambos needed to be allowed to get on with their work.
“Ambos often have to deal with anxious, intoxicated or deliberately confrontational members of the public, who at times resort to unacceptable behaviour such as spitting, verbal abuse, threats and physical assault,” he said.
“We recognise that it can be a scary time for friends and family members but that is no excuse for verbally or physically abusing those who are just trying to help.”
It is planned to run the awareness campaign over the next three years and highlight work in other high-risk environments such as the emergency departments of hospitals, aged care homes and mental health and drug and alcohol treatment facilities.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation official Elizabeth Dabars said she was pleased there would be a coordinated strategy to address challenging behaviour and violence across SA health services.
“Nurses and midwives are all too familiar with workplace violence, but we shouldn’t have to be,” she said.
The awareness campaign also will see a toolkit made available to health workers, along with more training on how to respond to challenging behaviour.