THE number of violent attacks on ambulance crews operating in the county has tripled in the last year, despite the introduction of a "zero tolerance" policy.
There were a total of 119 violent incidents, including verbal abuse, threats and physical abuse, across the Hereford and Worcester Ambulance Service, new figures have revealed. Some 61 of them were reported to police, the report to the service's NHS Trust Board shows.
Examples include a crew abused by a passer-by while treating a patient at the roadside because their ambulance was blocking the way, and a patient who caused mayhem inside an ambulance, wrecking equipment. Patients are now warned that police will be called to any incident of violence.
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