Star comment: Shame as paramedics fear to enter danger homes
What has the world come to when ambulance crews responding to 999 calls are at serious risk of coming under attack in homes across the West Midlands?
Today, following a Freedom of Information request, we reveal shocking statistics that show that 52 addresses – including many in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Worcestershire – are considered 'dangerous places' for paramedics to go into.
It is a sad state of affairs when it is unsafe for men and women, seeking only to help people in need of urgent medical attention, cannot enter a property without police escorts in place to protect them from harm.
The homes have been blacklisted by West Midlands Ambulance Service because of previous incidents in which paramedics gave been assaulted, subjected to verbally abused or been attacked by dangerous dogs.
The ambulance service is right to take every precaution to ensure the safety of its crews, but it is depressing that so many incidents are occurring.
The tide of attacks on mercy crews is sadly still on the rise in the West Midlands. Although the number of blacklisted homes fell from 79 in 2015, there were only 11 on the list six years ago and the number of physical assaults on ambulance personnel continues to grow, from 298 in 2015-2016 to 362 for 2016-2017 – the third highest total of the 10 UK ambulance trusts.
Let's hope that this shameful tide turns soon and that the West Midlands paramedics, who do such good work, will no longer be at such risk.
