Since 1 April 2011, 25 front-line staff from South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust (SCAS) have been assaulted during the course of their work. The number of assaults on ambulance staff in the year 2010/11 rose by 22% compared with the previous year.
Mark Ainsworth, South Central Ambulance Service NHS Trust Area Director South (Hants) said: ‘It’s disappointing to see an increase in the number of assaults on ambulance personnel. We are doing all we can to protect staff by intervening on calls where staff may be at risk and are also providing training for staff to recognize volatile situations.’
The trust encourages staff to report assaults to the police and will provide support to victims through their line managers and SCAS’ local security management specialist and provides conflict management training to all front-line staff as a matter of course.
All SCAS’ new double crewed ambulances are fitted with 4 cameras - one inside, one over each of the side and rear doors and one in the cab mounted in front of the rear view mirror. In addition the new ambulances are fitted with 3 panic strips - one in the cab and two in the back. Once a panic strip is pressed, the cameras lock the previous 30 seconds recording, record the incident and then continue recording for 2 minutes after the incident.
