Paramedics are threatening to withdraw from high-risk areas of Darwin and Alice Springs fed up with repeated attacks on ambulance crews. St John Ambulance says its paramedics were forced to withdraw from six separate callouts overnight, one allegedly involving a knife.
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00:00Paramedics putting their bodies on the line to help others.
00:06When you actually have to run for your life, that takes it up to another level.
00:13St John has now recorded 117 incidents of violence or threats against paramedics since January, including a spate overnight.
00:22In the Palmerston suburb of Grey, a paramedic was threatened with a knife while treating a patient.
00:28Rocks were thrown at an ambulance in nearby Woodruff.
00:32In Coconut Grove, paramedics were treating a patient when a group threatened to throw a shopping trolley at their ambulance.
00:39In the Darwin CBD, paramedics had to leave an aggressive patient.
00:44And paramedics withdrew from two call-outs in Alice Springs, delaying treatment for a heart attack patient.
00:51Earlier this week, a police officer was also knocked unconscious on the Tiwi Islands.
00:56The Chief Minister said it was disappointing and unacceptable that some individuals respond with violence and aggression against the very people there to help them.
01:05St John says they only ask police to attend call-outs where absolutely necessary, but sometimes even innocuous jobs turn violent.
01:14When it changes all of a sudden on you, that's something that's quite unexpected.
01:19When you've got somebody with a weapon that is threatening to kill you.
01:24St John held talks today, considering whether to bar paramedics from attending repeatedly risky addresses.
01:30What we're trying to do is actually stop our paramedics actually attending some of these cases that are really dangerous.
01:38That could mean slower response times and more pressure on police.
01:42If they need to contact police to attend that scene with them, then that's what's going to happen.
01:47If it gets to a situation where St John's can't attend a serious emergency, then it puts lives at risk.
01:55The government is hopeful new mandatory minimum sentences for physically assaulting frontline workers will drive down the violence.
02:03That adds a level of deterrent, but we continue to see these incidents occurring.
02:08A decision on new safety measures for NT Paramedics is expected tomorrow.
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