A rise in attacks on ambulance staff from the services which cover Burton and Swadlincote has led to bosses saying it will not be tolerated.
West Midlands Ambulance Services and their colleagues in the East Midlands have both reported a rise in attacks on their staff over the years, with the paramedics subjected to everything from being sexually assaulted, being threatened with a knife and being spat at.
Both services have said that any kind of attack, whether it be verbal or physical, will not be tolerated against their paramedics who are simply trying to do their job and save lives.
Figures revealed through a Freedom of Information request show a steady rise in attacks, with crews suffering both verbal and physical assaults. Verbal assaults often include people being abusive on the phone to call centre staff.
The Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill has already been before Parliament which would introduce a new offence of common assault against an emergency worker and require courts to treat attacks on emergency workers as an aggravating factor when offenders are sentenced.
West Midlands Ambulance Service reported 23 physical assaults in Staffordshire back in 2011 to 2012, with 40 verbal attacks.
Physical attacks rose to 30 in 2012/13 with 29 verbal instances. There were 25 physical attacks in 2013/14 with 31 verbal cases. In 2014/15 the figures was 29 physical and 64 verbal.
There were 29 physical attacks in 2015/16 with 73 verbal. In 2016/17 there were 49 physical and 54 verbal. The latest figures show there were 50 physical assaults in 2017/18 and 41 verbal attacks.
Steve Elliker, West Midlands Ambulance Service's head of security and safety, said: "It is extremely disappointing that our staff are subjected to physical and verbal abuse when all they are trying to do is help people in their hour of need.
"Whether it is physical attacks on crews responding to incidents or verbal abuse against call centre staff on the end of a phone, it is completely unacceptable.
"As such, the trust has a zero tolerance policy in place and works extremely hard to bring the full weight of the law to bear on anyone who attacks our staff.
"It is simply not acceptable that staff who are there to help people, suffer at the hands of patients, their relatives or other people at the scene. Any type of assault against our staff will not be tolerated.
"Whilst we welcomes the new Private Members Bill to provide emergency workers with enhanced protection, we feel the courts already have sufficient powers to send a clear message to perpetrators that their actions are not acceptable to the public and will be dealt with appropriately by the legal system."
East Midlands Ambulance Service reported 90 assaults in 2014/15 - one of which was sexual and four involved spitting.
This rose to 172 in 2015/16 with six sexual assaults and two where an attacker threatened to use a knife against staff. In 2016/17, there was 133 assaults with seven being sexual and two involving a knife, as well as 10 involving spitting.
Samantha Westwell, ambulance operations manager for Derbyshire, said: "Assaults on our staff are absolutely unacceptable and we take a zero tolerance approach towards anyone who verbally or physically assaults them.
"Our frontline colleagues, and the team in our 999 control room spend their days helping the public. They deserve to be treated with respect and we will continue to prosecute those who abuse our staff.
"The local security management specialist team and local managers work with staff who have been assaulted to support them through the process of giving statements to police and the Crown Prosecution Service."
