A rise in attacks on ambulance staff around the country has been reported with 114 assaults on ambulance staff over the past two years.
A union representative claims many more assaults are not being reported.
These new figures have been released by the National Ambulance Service under the Freedom of Information Act.
In the Western Region which covers Donegal, Clare, Galway, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo and Tipperary (North) – saw assaults on ambulance staff more than half.
There were nine assaults last year compared to 20 in 2018 in the region.
Overall the figures show that, in 2018 and 2019, there were 114 assaults against ambulance staff.
70 were physical, 43 were verbal and one was sexual, which relates to a patient exposing themself to a staff member.
But Tina Martin, the co-chairperson of the National Ambulance Service Representative Association, claims the problem is far worse than the statistics suggest.
She points to a survey of paramedics that found 68% of them had been assaulted over a two-year period.
“The incidents of assaults is increasing yearly. I am in the job 16 years and you wouldn’t have heard of it, there would have been very little of it,” said Ms Martin.
So it is increasing year-on-year. You would get physical assaults like slapping or hitting or pushing and there would be a lot of verbal abuse.
The National Ambulance Service says staff safety is a priority, and they’re trained in the management of violence and aggression.
The number of assaults in both 2018 and 2019 were highest is the South region which includes Carlow, Cork, Kerry, Kilkenny, Tipperary (South), Waterford and Wexford.
In each year there were 22 assaults on ambulance staff.
Last year in the region there were 10 physical assaults down from 13 the previous year.
Last year in the North Leinster region – Cavan, Dublin, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Louth, Meath, Monaghan, Offaly, Westmeath and Wicklow – there were 20 assaults, 15 of which were physical.
