40 Shropshire properties 'high risk' for ambulances
Nearly 40 properties in Shropshire are listed as posing a "high risk" to ambulance staff, new figures reveal today.
West Midlands Ambulance Service has a total of 37 homes under the SY and TF postcodes listed on its "high risk register".
Figures, which cover both commercial and residential properties, show that another six homes in the area were listed as properties where violence was indicated by ambulance crews.
The greatest amount on the "high risk register" are to be found at the TF1 postcode area, which has eight flagged up on the WMAS database.
Properties listed where violence has been indicated by staff could be flagged up for a number of reasons, which include verbal or physical violence from the occupants as well as the possibility of large or aggressive dogs and pets.
The system is also used to identify patients who may become aggressive due to their medical condition such as mental health, diabetes or epilepsy.
The ambulance service says that when an address has such a flag, the onus is on the attending crew to decide if they wished to enter the premises with or without police back up. Steve Elliker, WMAS Security Manager, said ambulance staff should not have to face threats of violence while doing their jobs.
He said: "I would expect anybody who serves in a public body like ourselves to be treated in the way they would like to be.
"They need to understand that 99 per cent of the public are very good, we have no problems whatsoever, but none of our staff have to go into these situations, we do not go looking for work, you have requested our assistance.
He added: "We do not want any arguments, all we want to do is treat the public."
Mr Elliker also said ambulance staff can be frustrated at the level of punishment handed out to those who behave violently towards them.
He said: "I get frustrated sometimes if I'm being honest with the outcome of a criminal prosecution because there's always mitigation. Some of that mitigation may be something totally out of character; they had to drink; they took some drugs. I have a very simplistic view – they had a choice, they decided to drink. Our members of staff who attended to them never had a choice – they had to go because they had called 999.
