Paramedics blacklist 68 more West Midlands homes after attacks on ambulance workers
Paramedics have blacklisted more homes than ever in the past four months – with 68 now needing police accompanying them.
It compares to 80 across the whole of the last financial year, and 93 the year before.
The blacklisting comes following physical assaults on staff - which peaked with 298 in the 2015/16 financial year.
So far this year there have been just 81 attacks on frontline staff, according to figures uncovered by a Freedom of Information request.
But those 81 attacks have seen 68 addresses blacklisted.
The statistics were revealed just weeks after a paramedic was kicked and spat out while trying to help a man who had collapsed drunk.
He has called for mandatory sentences for people who attack a member of the emergency services.
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.
"There needs to be mandatory sentences."
So far this year there have been just three prosecutions recorded as a result of the assaults on frontline staff.
There were 43 in 2015/16, 59 in 2014/15. 37 in 2013/14, 30 in 2012/13 and 45 in 2011/12.
The number of blacklisted addresses has spiked from just 12 in 2011/12 to 80 last year and 68 already in 2016/17.
The service has also reported a spike in the number of hoax calls, some of which have been abusive.
The rise in attacks comes as the ambulance service has taken action to catch perpetrators, including the installation of CCTV cameras on front-line vehicles.
Most areas covered by the ambulance service, including the Black Country, saw a rise but there was a slight decrease in Staffordshire.
