Safety call for ambulance staff to wear body armour

LOTHIAN ambulance workers should be offered body armour for certain shifts, it has been claimed.

The Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel said protective clothing would provide a safer working environment.

It follows statistics revealed in the Evening News earlier this week showing dozens of paramedics and ambulance staff are still being attacked every year, despite new laws and high-profile campaigns.

In the Lothians, as many as 50 addresses are "blacklisted" by the Scottish Ambulance Service, with entry prohibited unless police are present.

Jonathan Fox, a spokesman for the organisation, said: "There is a general consensus among ambulance personnel in this country that the working environment is now more hostile and dangerous than at any time previously, with paramedics facing escalating levels of violence on a daily basis.

"Body armour is part of a package of measures for a safer working environment for front line ambulance personnel. Body armour is made to conform to specific requirements and can therefore afford the user knife, ballistic or dual protection.

"It also provides excellent protection from blunt force trauma either from a weapon or simply from the force of hitting another object while attempting to manage patients in unpredictable environments."

The organisation also urged staff to report all incidents.