{"id":641248,"date":"2026-04-30T20:11:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T20:11:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/641248\/"},"modified":"2026-04-30T20:11:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-30T20:11:13","slug":"melbourne-paramedics-scared-to-go-to-work-after-colleague-attacked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/641248\/","title":{"rendered":"Melbourne paramedics \u2018scared to go to work\u2019 after colleague attacked"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Alexander<\/p>\n

April 30, 2026 \u2014 4:53pm<\/p>\n

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Victoria will make jail mandatory in all circumstances for people who assault emergency services workers, in response to an attack that left a paramedic in hospital with stab wounds to his face and neck.<\/p>\n

The assault in Reservoir on Thursday morning ended only after a good Samaritan stepped in.<\/p>\n

\"AmbulanceAmbulance Victoria chief executive Jordan Emery addressed the media with union secretary Danny Hill (right) and other paramedics on Thursday.Alexander Darling<\/p>\n

Since 2018, injuring an emergency worker has been a category 1 offence in Victoria, meaning courts must impose a prison sentence \u2013 in this case at least six months \u2013 for those found guilty. The maximum penalty for this crime is five years in jail.<\/p>\n

However, in late February, this masthead<\/a> revealed a man whose attack on a paramedic left her in hospital avoided the mandatory jail term because the paramedic was not treating a patient when she was attacked.<\/p>\n

After Ambulance Victoria called the attack \u201cappalling and unacceptable\u201d and the ambulance union called for harsher laws, Premier Jacinta Allan announced law changes on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

\"PremierPremier Jacinta Allan at a press conference this month.Eddie Jim<\/p>\n

\u201cVictims and union representatives have raised the issue of loopholes in the law, potentially undermining the protections emergency workers deserve,\u201d Allan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe commit to fixing it. We will ask the Victorian Law Reform Commission to review the definition of \u2018on duty\u2019 and ensure there are no loopholes.\u201d<\/p>\n

The victim, a 20-year originally from the Northern Territory, is in Royal Melbourne Hospital\u2019s emergency department in a serious but stable condition after the incident, which happened in Melbourne\u2019s north about 11.20am.<\/p>\n

Police and Ambulance Victoria said the first responder was getting coffee at a cafe in Reservoir, and not treating a patient, when a man got out of a red car and stabbed him.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Paramedic<\/a><\/p>\n

The man then fled in the same car, they said. Police made an arrest in the same suburb a few hours later.<\/p>\n

The mobile intensive care ambulance paramedic\u2019s injuries were not life-threatening, but Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jordan Emery said that made the situation no less serious.<\/p>\n

He said the attack was random and unprovoked, and took place while the victim was getting out of his vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is completely unacceptable that people who spend their lives caring for others \u2013 who give so much to care for their communities \u2013 continue to face violence on a daily basis,\u201d Emery said outside the hospital on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to spend time reflecting on how we have come to a place where more than 1000 paramedics are assaulted every single year in Victoria. It is absolutely disgraceful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flanked by a dozen paramedics, Emery said the problem was increasing across Victoria and that drug and alcohol abuse weren\u2019t the only explanations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere will be paramedics tonight who will be scared to go to work, and rightly so, because of this appalling violence,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ambulance Victoria data shows there were 1045 incidents against paramedics reported in the year to June 2025, nearly 6 per cent of which resulted in injury or illness.<\/p>\n

Emery also said the injured paramedic was in \u201cremarkably in good spirits\u201d given his injuries, and that he had only recently become a father.<\/p>\n

The victim\u2019s family, who remain at his bedside, declined the opportunity to speak at the same press conference.<\/p>\n

Emery said a bystander had intervened to stop the offender, which allowed the paramedic to perform first aid on himself \u2013 despite bleeding profusely \u2013 until his colleagues arrived.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe extend our sincere gratitude and thanks to that bystander,\u201d said Danny Hill, secretary of Victoria\u2019s Ambulance Union. \u201cWe hope that we get the opportunity to provide a more fulsome thanks directly.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AmbulanceAmbulance Victoria CEO Jordan Emery on Thursday afternoon.Alexander Darling<\/p>\n

It is understood the bystander wasn\u2019t injured.<\/p>\n

Emery also acknowledged the victim\u2019s coworkers, \u201cwho had to render care to their colleague with such horrific injuries\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s extremely distressing for them,\u201d he said. \u201cThey are shaken, and understandably so. And yet so many of our people have come to expect it, and I can\u2019t labour that point enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police arrested a 32-year-old man over the incident at a different street in Reservoir at 1pm. The man is being interviewed.<\/p>\n

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