North West Ambulance Service had another one of its emergency ambulances targeted by mindless vandals today (4th April), the
A tweet shared on the @NWAmbulance twitter page said:
“Again, really!?
“After 3 incidents in March, another ambulance window has been smashed last night with an object thrown at the moving vehicle on Regent Road in Salford.
“Thankfully there were no injuries but this is causing a serious risk to life and it must stop!”.
After three of its vehicles were attacked in MArch, North West Ambulance Service released the following statement:
‘March 2019 has seen three incidents where youths throwing stones at emergency ambulances has caused disruption and North West Ambulance Service is appealing to them to stop before someone is seriously hurt.
‘On 10 March, an ambulance was taken off the road after a bottle was thrown while it was en route to an emergency – the side window shattered covering the interior with broken glass, luckily there was no patient on board and no-one was hurt. The incident, which happened at 9.20pm on the A6 in Stockport was reported to the police. The ambulance had to be taken off the road and a second vehicle was sent to the patient.
‘A fortnight later, the trust was shocked to learn that in West Derby, Liverpool, stones had been thrown at an ambulance carrying a sick child.
‘The incident happened at 11.20pm and the stone went through an open window hitting the technician on the head while he was driving on blue lights. Bravely, he continued on his way to
‘Only four days later on 27 March, a group of youths threw stones at an ambulance on the A095 in Preston, Lancashire. The ambulance was travelling on blue lights to a patient in a life-threatening condition and thankfully the damage was limited to a chip in the windscreen. Despite being a minor incident, this kind of vandalism is turning into a dangerous trend which could have severe consequences for NWAS staff or patients.
Director of Operations, Ged Blezard comments:
“I was absolutely lost for words when I heard of these incidents, particularly the case in Liverpool. Had this member of staff been hit harder or in the eye, we could have been dealing with a serious incident and possibly even the death of him, his colleague or the young child we were treating.
“I would like to ask those throwing the stones at ambulances – how can you be sure that ambulance isn’t travelling to save the life of someone you care about?
“How do you know that your mum, dad, grandparent or sibling isn’t in a
In November last year, North West Ambulance Service launched a campaign highlighting the growing problem of violence and aggression towards ambulance staff.
Using the hashtag #GetBehind999, the trust opened an online pledge where people could show their support to end violence towards ambulance staff and businesses could receive posters to display in their premises.
The pledge is still open to signatures through http://www.nwas.nhs.uk/stop-abuse
NWAS staff have reported more than 730 cases of physical or verbal assaults in the last 12 months and this spate of
Mr Blezard added
“The safety of our staff and patients is always our priority. When a patient is ill and being treated in the back of an ambulance, the prospect of missiles coming in through the window should not be something they have to worry about.
“We will always work with the police to push for the full extent of the law to be applied to those who think it is amusing to do this.
“We urgently appeal to these people – stop now before you really hurt someone. Think about who may be in that ambulance or who that ambulance is going to.”
If you have any information about anyone who is responsible for throwing stones or any other objects at emergency vehicles, then please contact your local police on 101 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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