Every paramedic has likely faced violence from some of the citizens they’re trying to help on the job, Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesman Marc-Antoine Deschamps says.
“It happened to me when I was on duty, hitting, spitting,” Deschamps said.
“One time, there was a person trying to push my partner into (highway traffic),” he said.
While the majority of the people paramedics deal with are respectful, Deschamps said violent incidents continue.
Ottawa police said in a release Wednesday that charges have been issued in connection with three incidents of violence against paramedics assaulted on calls last week.
Police said paramedics were assaulted, April 13, while providing care to a patient in Barrhaven, “resulting in injuries and a request for immediate police assistance.” A person was charged, but police did not issue any details.
The next day, police said a woman was arrested and charged at a Nepean residence after allegedly assaulting an Ottawa police officer and spitting in the face of a paramedic assisting at the scene.
On Friday, April 17, paramedics responding to a “person in crisis” in Nepean withdrew after a person pulled a firearm. The suspect was arrested and charged.
One person was arrested without incident and charges were laid.
“Recent incidents underscore the dangers first responders face and the importance of working together to protect residents, patients, and responders,” police said in a media release.
A survey last year by the city’s Office of the Auditor General
found that every Ottawa paramedic who responded had faced some form of violence while on duty
.
The survey found that 37 per cent of respondents experienced violence at least once a month, while 21 per cent experienced violence on a weekly basis and seven per cent experienced violence multiple times a week.
“The most polite way of saying it is, it’s not OK, and it’s not part of the job,” paramedic Chief Pierre Poirier told the audit committee meeting.
The survey found that 82 per cent of respondents experienced violence on the job and did not report it, and paramedics with longer tenures at the Ottawa Paramedic Service tended to have higher instances of unreported violence.
“One of the main reasons for under reporting was a belief that reporting would not lead to action. Other reasons cited was the perception that violence is part of the job, or that the incident was too minor to warrant reporting,” said audit principal Julia Weber, who presented the findings to councillors on Nov. 28.
Deschamps said Wednesday that the paramedic service has organized internal working groups to study the issue and prepare suggestions for action.
“This violence is definitely not part of the job,” he said.
— With files from Aedan Helmer
