Assaults on paramedics alarming: union head

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This article was published 12/04/2023 (927 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The melee in the back of an ambulance Easter Sunday that sent a Winnipeg paramedic to hospital is just one example of the worsening violence and threats first responders face daily, says their union.

“I don’t think that there’s a paramedic that works for the WFPS today that hasn’t been assaulted, been nearly assaulted, verbally assaulted or knows somebody who’s been assaulted,” Ryan Woiden, president of Manitoba Government and General Employees’ Union Local 911, said Tuesday.

“These are life-altering calls for paramedics. We signed up to help. I can’t say we signed up to put our lives in the position they’re in as often as we do.”

On April 9, a Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service paramedic was reportedly attacked by a patient after he and a partner responded to a medical call near Magnus Avenue and McPhillips Street around 10 p.m.

The first responders called for police. The injured paramedic was hospitalized in stable condition. He was released after treatment.

On Tuesday, Winnipeg Police Service spokeswoman Const. Dani McKinnon said police had not made any arrests.

Reported assaults and assaults with weapons were down last year compared to the prior two years, although the number of reported threats had increased, a fire paramedic spokeswoman told the Free Press.

There were 69 assaults against WFPS employees in 2022, compared to 76 in 2021 and 70 in 2020, while reported assaults with a weapon were down to one from 12 in 2021 and seven the year prior, Kristin Cuma said.

Reported threats went from 44 in 2020, down to 28 in 2021, then jumped to 128 in 2022, according to data Cuma provided.

The numbers “may be attributed to an increase in education about what violence is and a better understanding that a threat is a reportable incident,” said Cuma, adding the health and safety of personnel is paramount.

“WFPS leadership is always open to any processes or equipment that could potentially improve safety for our members,” she said.

Violence has increased “without question” over the longer term, Woiden said.

“This has increased substantially since I started,” the 23-year paramedic said, speaking anecdotally, as the union did not have long-term statistics on hand.

The potential for such violence means paramedics have to decide whether to enter a possibly volatile situation to provide help or wait for police officers to assist them, which can lead to precious time being lost, he said.

“This is becoming one of our top priorities, and it’s a priority not just because of the violence toward paramedics, but the lack or delay in response to patients because of our need for police to respond with us,” said Woiden.

“It doesn’t accomplish what paramedics are there for — which is to provide timely medical care.”

The union and the department’s health and safety committee have discussed the possibility of outfitting paramedics with protective vests to protect them from blades, as well as developing a policy to allow them to search patients for weapons, Woiden said.

“It’s something that’s better than nothing when we have knives pulled on us, guns pulled on us — I’ve had both pulled on me,” he said.

The department’s leadership will review the health and safety committee’s report on slash vests, among other recommendations, then decide how to proceed, Cuma said.

All city paramedics and firefighters are required to do threat management training and the department has made changes to 911 communication protocols to give crews more information before arriving at scenes, the spokeswoman said.

“Crews also have the option to self-stage at scenes where they are concerned for their safety. While these measures won’t prevent every violent incident that could occur, they are steps in the right direction,” she said.

Many of the assaults are tied to methamphetamine use, as well as increasing mental health calls, Woiden said.

The paramedic injured Sunday was a fairly recent hire, the union leader said.

“To somebody new to the WFPS, this is the type of thing that makes it tough to retain paramedics here — the constant violence and situations that paramedics find themselves in.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @erik_pindera