Bodycam roll-out for South East ambulance staff

Alison Smith says the cameras are one of the best safety tools she's ever had.

The use of bodyworn cameras for ambulance staff is to be expanded in the south east as new data reveals hundreds of assaults on paramedics.

The devices, which are currently deployed at six South East Coast Ambulance Service bases, will be rolled out to a further 19 bases.

It comes as figures obtained by the GMB union reveal over 1,000 assaults on Secamb staff over the last five years.

The union is calling for better enforcement and victim support.

According to the GMB, there were 1,033 physical assaults on Secamb staff between 2018 and 2023, including headbutting, spitting, and sexual assaults.

Staff also faced verbal abuse and threats - both paramedics on the scene and call handlers over the phone.

Secamb told BBC Sussex their staff were subject to 1,090 incidents of non-physical abuse last year alone.

Dave Monk, Secamb's security manager, said bodycameras were 'not just there to capture evidence'

Dave Monk, Secamb's security manager, said call handlers were subjected to abuse "on a daily basis".

He said the bodyworn cameras were "not just there to capture evidence, they're part of a range of tools to de-escalate the situation".

"We're starting to see the benefits of carrying them," he added.

Alison Smith, an operational team leader at a SECAmb base in Gatwick, said her colleagues have had to use their bodyworn cameras "very, very often".

"Just having that safety net made a hell of a difference," she said.

Laws passed in 2018, 2020 and 2022 introduced new offences and tougher sentences for those who assault emergency services workers.

Rachel Harrison, GMB national secretary, said those laws should be better enforced.

She said: "Ambulance workers across the South East go to work every day to save lives. Despite this, thousands of them are bitten, attacked, spat at and even sexually assaulted."

"No one should have to put up with that, least of all those who are there to protect us."

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