Paramedic attacked by drunk he was trying to treat
A paramedic has revealed how he was kicked and spat at while trying to help a man who had collapsed drunk, just days after suffering verbal abuse.
Paramedic Mike Duggan, who runs the Birmingham city centre treatment unit, was subjected to the attack in the early hours of Sunday.
He has reiterated a call for mandatory sentences for people who attack a member of the emergency services.
Describing his ordeal which took place in Birmingham, he said: "I shook this guy's shoulders to try and wake him up and he just looked up and swore at me.
"I told him he couldn't be where he was and he swore at me again.
"That was when he kicked me in the shin and spat at me. He spat on my leg."
In the week preceding the attack Mr Duggan, aged 29, said he had been personally subjected to three verbal assaults while female colleagues had also been physically assaulted.
He believes there is not enough of a deterrent to stop people and repeated his call for a mandatory sentence for people who attack a member of the emergency services.
He added: "I find the initial police response is excellent but it is very rare it ends up with someone in custody.
"Just because you have had a few drinks, it is not an excuse. No emergency worker should be subjected to that.
"There needs to be mandatory sentences."
The attack on Mr Duggan follows an assault on an ambulance worked in Cannock earlier this month in which the victim was left bruised and scratched.
It was one of 10 'sickening' attacks on West Midlands Ambulance Service workers in the space of two days.
The service has also reported a spike in the number of hoax calls, some of which have been abusive.
Just last month, the Express & Star exclusively revealed that ambulance workers in the West Midlands reported a total of 760 physical and verbal assaults between April 2015 and the end of March this year.
The figures show an increase of 23 per cent on the previous year when 617 incidents were logged.
During the 12 months, 49 people were prosecuted for their actions while a further 40 were sent warning letters over their behaviour. Out of those written to, three people replied offering verbal apologies saying it was not their normal behaviour and one person submitted a complaint.
The ambulance service has taken action including the installation of CCTV cameras on front-line vehicles.
Steve Elliker, West Midlands Ambulance Service's head of security and safety said: "It is completely unacceptable that ambulance staff, who are responding to help people, should have to face violence and verbal abuse."
Police said no arrest had been over the most recent incident.
