New campaign helps ambulance staff tackle attacks

Ambulance staff in the East of England will receive more support in how to deal with threatening member of the public

A campaign to protect ambulance staff from violence and aggression has been launched as figures show an increase in attacks.

East of England Ambulance Service Trust set up the campaign, which features a range of resources to keep staff safe, after it recorded 1,455 attacks on staff in 2023, up 18% on 2022.

Of those, 362 were physical assaults, 522 were verbal in nature, and 571 were instances of non-physical abuse that involved aggressive gestures and intimidating behaviour towards staff.

The trust said the focus of the new campaign would be on what staff could do to safeguard themselves from physical, verbal, or emotional harm - and how the trust would support them if they do suffer abuse.

The new campaign by the ambulance trust wants crews to make more use of body cameras

The resources available for staff include case studies, videos, guidance packs and online question and answer sessions.

The campaign also highlights the importance of using body-worn cameras, which have to be activated by the ambulance worker but can record footage for use in a later prosecution.

The cameras were piloted in 2022 and are being rolled out across EEAST, with all staff encouraged to wear them for their protection.

Alistair Livingstone, EEAST's health, safety and security specialist, said there were "too many incidents where our colleagues are attacked, either physically or verbally".

"It is completely unacceptable," he said.

Neill Moloney, EEAST chief executive, said: "We recognise our people work in dynamic, often unpredictable environments and we cannot eliminate the risk of violence and aggression entirely.

"What we can do with the campaign is to give our people the knowledge, skills and equipment to help safeguard themselves in these situations.

"This reinforces our commitment to our people's wellbeing at work."

The trust said it would also review how it managed and responded to internal reports of violence and aggression, "so our colleagues can see what action is being taken".