By Diane Joyce – The Dominion Post
A woman whose "rage was off the radar" has attacked ambulance staff, leaving one off work injured and the other feeling very angry.
St John Ambulance officer Duncan Abel was bitten so hard that the skin on his arm was broken in an attack by the woman as she was being taken to Hawke’s Bay Regional Hospital.
The assault came as the latest figures for attacks on ambulance officers in New Zealand were issued, showing they have almost tripled in the past seven years, from 16 in 2003-04 to 46 in the year to June 2010.
Operations manager Stephen Smith said that, apart from being bitten in the attack on Wednesday evening in Hastings, Mr Abel was kicked in the leg and spat on.
He was at home resting yesterday and would be assessed before returning to work on Monday.
Mr Abel’s paramedic colleague, Amanda Bowering, who has been an ambulance officer for 14 years, said she was frightened at the time and "now I’m really, really angry".
"We had done everything possible for her physically and I’d treated her with the utmost respect. I get repaid with a mouthful of abuse, and my partner is attacked."
The pair were taking the woman, who was suffering from a medical condition, to hospital after being called by police to a home in the suburb of Mahora.
Ms Bowering was in the back of the ambulance as Mr Abel drove when "completely out of the blue she lost the plot". The patient tore off all her monitoring leads and leapt off the bed.
"She was in my face, screaming. Her rage was off the radar."
When Mr Abel stopped the ambulance to help her, the woman attacked him. Ms Bowering called police and the woman was arrested.
Mr Smith said that, although ambulance officers were "regularly" verbally abused, physical attacks were less common – about one every six months in Hawke’s Bay.
"But it’s enough to be concerned. This one was unprovoked. Our guys are out there trying to do the right thing and look after people. We take a pretty dim view of this."
In 26 years as an ambulance officer he had suffered a lot of verbal abuse, several minor assaults and one serious incident in which he was picked up and thrown, then punched.
Although most people treated ambulance officers well, there was a "small percentage of society who need to realise we are there to help".
