A pregnant paramedic in Australia was punched in the stomach and head shortly after saving a patient's life. The attack occurred on Sunday night, May 10, as paramedics were waiting to offload a woman at a Melbourne hospital following a drug overdose.
The paramedic, identified as 'Sally', was kicked in the head and stomach despite telling the patient she was 12 weeks pregnant. She continued to treat the attacker for another 40 minutes due to a lack of available beds and staff at the hospital. Ambulance Victoria confirmed that Sally and her unborn child were unharmed.
Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said Sally is now too scared to return to work. 'Her desire had been to continue working for many more months on-road, but she's had to make the decision for her own health and the health of her unborn child to come off-road because we just can't guarantee her safety,' he told the Australian press.
The attack comes weeks after another paramedic, Sam, was allegedly stabbed while ordering coffee in Melbourne on April 30. A 32-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder. Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jordan Emery called such attacks 'absolutely disgraceful' and noted that over the past week, another paramedic had been bitten, one shoved, and another had scissors pulled on them.
In the UK, attacks on ambulance staff reached record levels in the 2024-25 financial year, with more than 22,500 incidents of violence, aggression, and abuse reported – an average of 62 paramedics being abused or attacked every day.
