Man who bit Paramedic appears in court.

14 May 2013

The man who, on May 1, bit a NIAS Paramedic who was attending to his injuries has appeared in court to face charges of occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of criminal damage and three of assault on police. He was granted bail but banned from drinking alcohol and must observe a nighttime curfew.

The High Court heard that PSNI arrived to find three members of the ambulance service restraining the accused on the ground. He had, prior to the arrival of the PSNI, punched kicked and spat at the crew having also bit one of the Paramedics in the hand - an injury for which the Paramedic required treatment.

The accused was arrested at the scene and taken into custody.

 

 

 

NIAS experiencing delays in responding to 999

calls due to bad weather (22 March 2013 14:00)

As a result of the inclement weather, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service is experiencing delays in responding to an already high number of emergency calls. All calls are being responded to but delays are inevitable and may continue over the next 24 to 36 hours.

However NIAS call takers continue to remain on line with callers providing reassurance and advice on how best to manage a patient or casualty while the ambulance makes it way to the scene.

Difficulties are being experienced throughout Northern Ireland in terms of access on the road network as a result of fallen trees, downed power lines and treacherous driving conditions.

In order to ensure that those most seriously ill or injured patients receive the most timely response, NIAS would ask the public to call 999 only when absolutely necessary for the duration of this period of bad weather.

Those calls which require an immediate response include sudden collapse, chest pain, difficulty in breathing, choking, severe loss of blood, severe burns or scalds, fitting, drowning and severe allergic reactions.

However if you are in doubt at all, make the call.

 

Attack on Ambulance personnel

attending 999 call. 13Feb 2012

Two ambulance personnel sustained injuries as they attended a call in Glenarm on Sunday night.

They were responding to an emergency call for a male patient complaining of chest pain. The Rapid Response Paramedic arrived at the scene first and had carried out an assessment of the patient when a supporting crew arrived. As the patient was being prepared for transfer to the ambulance, another male who had been in the house and who had been agitated throughout the assessment, rose to his feet to prevent the patient moving. He head butted the paramedic, who was then assisted by one of his colleagues in restraining the assailant. This enabled the third member of the ambulance service to remove the patient from the scene to the safety of the ambulance.

The two ambulance personnel then told the assailant they would release him as long as there was no repeat of his previous actions. However he then followed the staff out to the garden and attempted to further assault them. Again they used minimum force in restraining him and called for PSNI assistance. The assailant was taken into custody and the patient was taken to hospital for further tests.

One paramedic received injuries to his shoulder and arms and was unable to continue with his shift. A second crew member received a black eye and a facial cut but after a short break resumed duties.

By a strange twist of fate, this member of staff was later called to Ballymena PSNI station to attend to a patient who just happened to be the person who had assaulted him earlier and who had given him a black eye and cut face. The PSNI, realising that he had been the victim of the earlier incident, suggested that it might be more appropriate for another crew to attend. But in a display of model professionalism, he saw fit to put his personal feelings to one side and deal with a patient presented to him.

NIAS once again calls for all steps to be taken to ensure that our staff are left to tend to those whose lives may be at threat, without fear of violence of a physical or verbal nature being directed towards them. We would further seek that any person found guilty of such behaviour against our staff face the toughest of penalties available to the judiciary.

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________