A pregnant paramedic who was punched in the stomach while saving a woman's life in Melbourne last week has revealed she is too scared to go back on the road.
The woman, referred to as 'Sally', was punched in the head and stomach while treating a woman who had consumed a life‑threatening drug overdose.
Sally, who told the woman she was 12 weeks pregnant at the time, said she was attacked while preparing to offload the patient onto a hospital bed.
The expectant mother had wanted to continue operational work for several months of her pregnancy but has now decided to no longer attend to patients amid fears for her unborn baby.
'I still feel a little bit shaken, and I am most certainly nervous about going back on the road,' she told the Herald Sun.
'I'm not too sure why this is happening, prior to this whole incident I mostly felt safe.
'We cop verbal abuse all the time, but I've never particularly felt unsafe physically until now.'
Incredibly, because a hospital bed was not available, Sally was forced to continue looking after the patient for 40 minutes until another crew took over.
Pregnant paramedic Sally is too scared to go back on the road after she was viciously attacked
Sally was punched in the head and stomach while treating the woman whose condition was life-threatening
She was forced to continue looking after the patient for 40 minutes until a bed was available
It comes just weeks after another Melbourne paramedic was stabbed in the face and neck as he exited his vehicle to catch up with colleagues for a mid‑morning coffee.
Sam was left with critical injuries following the unprovoked assault that has seen his alleged attacker, Mohamud Ali, charged with attempted murder.
Sally added: 'Since what's happened with Sam a lot of people are very nervous to come to work.'
Secretary of the Victorian Ambulance Union, Danny Hill, said the rise in attacks could mean patients may not get the care they need if paramedics feel threatened.
'[Sally's] made the decision to come off-road, which is really sad because she's a dedicated paramedic and she wanted to work on-road for as long as she could, but she can't risk placing her unborn child at the sort of risk that paramedics are facing every day,' he told the media.
'I think we'll see a lot come off-road where previously they might have worked up much closer until the end of their pregnancy.'
According to figures from the Victorian Ambulance Union, paramedics across the state experienced more than 1,000 hazardous incidents in the last financial year.
Ambulance Victoria chief executive officer Jordan Emery said the rise in attacks had prompted urgent talks with the ambulance union and board chair to discuss a 'united approach' to address violence against first responders.
Secretary of the Victorian Ambulance Union, Danny Hill, said he expects other pregnant paramedics to finish up operational work earlier than they had wanted due to fears of violence
'We identified a number of areas we considered required our attention, building on work and processes already in place - focusing on prevention, de-escalation and intervention,' Mr Emery said.
'Whilst some of these actions will take time, Victorians can help end this violence now.
'We plead with the community to treat our paramedics and first responders with dignity and respect. Our people who give so much to Victoria deserve nothing less.'
On Monday, Victorian Health Minister Harriet Shing said the government is working to close a legal loophole that means harsher penalties don't apply if a paramedic is assaulted during their breaks.
Current laws mandate jail terms for attacks on police, firefighters, prison officers, paramedics, doctors and nurses who are delivering or supporting care.