Raleigh Badon
A female paramedic has revealed the moment she was punched in the face by a drink and drug driver who threatened to rape her as she tried to help him.
Emily Jackson, 31, was called to a pub in London to treat the seriously ill, unconscious man.
But while attending the scene, along with her crew, the man regained consciousness and launched a violent attack.
Ms Jackson said: ‘It was this time of year (December) – when people are out drinking or partying.
‘Our patient was unconscious on the floor and I was really worried about him. He was struggling to breathe and I worried he was going to stop breathing and go into cardiac arrest.
‘We were getting ready to do an ECG when he regained consciousness. He was friendly at first, then he suddenly switched.
‘He looked ready to fight the whole pub and made sexually aggressive comments to me. He was throwing punches and I got hit in the face.’
She said the attacker then left the pub – but returned a short while later.
Ms Jackson said: ‘It was like a horror film – I just froze. He threatened to rape me and said he would dump my body in an alleyway.
‘That threat frightened me more than when he was throwing punches. It chilled me.’
The shaken up paramedic continued working but suffered a breakdown a few days later.
She said: ‘It wasn’t the first time I’d been attacked at work, and it wasn’t the last.
‘It takes its toll.’
Ms Jackson’s attacker was later jailed for eight months for beating and threatening an emergency worker.
Other footage published by the LAS shows some workers being thrown from vehicles, while others are heard being issued with death threats.
It comes as new figures show more than half of frontline workers at the London Ambulance Service (LAS) have been attacked whilst on duty, with 562 of them assaulted three or more times within the space of one year.
Ms Jackson, who is now working on a project to protect call handlers from abuse over the phone, was also seen on bodycam footage suffering a separate ordeal in a hospital as she fled a patient who threatened to kill her.
In a recording, the man can be heard shouting ‘stay away … I hate you’ as he is repeatedly told to ‘calm down’ by another paramedic.
He then throws Ms Jackson’s iPad onto the ground, smashing it to pieces, before shouting ‘I will kill you’ as she runs away, looking visibly terrified.
Ms Jackson recounted the assaults as part of a new campaign launched by the LAS called ‘All we want for Christmas is… Respect’.
A recent survey from the organisation found 44 per cent of its staff had been sexually harassed by patients or members of the public, with 53 per cent also having been violently attacked while on duty.
Drugs and alcohol are a factor in around 40 per cent of violent incidents.
LAS Chief Executive Jason Killens KAM said: ‘During the festive season, when Londoners are celebrating, our people are working tirelessly to save lives.
‘Any violence, threats or harassment is completely unacceptable.
‘No one should face this at work, and on top of the hurt and harm it causes our people, it can prevent us from caring for patients who need our help.
‘All we are asking for is respect – on the phone, on the road and in the communities we serve. If abuse happens, we work with the police to ensure it is investigated and offenders are punished.’
LAS said it has set up a Violence Reduction Unit to support colleagues to report crimes and work closely with police to pursue the culprits.
Ambulances are fitted with CCTV and audio recording and crews are given the option of wearing body-worn cameras.
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