How ‘brave’ must you have be to threaten not only a woman, but a member of the emergency services as well? The answer is incredibly simple; bravery is not required in order to carry out such a threat; but being a coward is essential.
Today (Monday 23rd April) we learn of a pathetic excuse for a ‘man’ who took it upon himself to threaten a female medic as she was trying to treat his sick relative. Or, more specifically, he threatened to ‘smash the face in’ of the brave ECA who was simply just trying to help.
This latest threat against a member of the emergency services happened in Beverley (UK) on Saturday 21st April.
The Medic involved, Debbie Johnson, expressed her frustration and disbelief at the threats via her Twitter account:
The Student Paramedic (currently an Emergency Care Assistant), who is 5ft 2ins tall, said: “Four Years in the ambulance service and only the second time i’ve felt vulnerable whilst on duty”.
Ms Johnson ended up having to wait in her Ambulance until the Police arrived in order to ensure that Ms Johnson was not subjected to further threats and abuse or even assaulted by the idiot who took it upon himself to threaten Ms Johnson as she tried to do her job.
Ms Johnson received an outpouring of support on Twitter, not only from her colleagues, but also from members of the public who wanted to offer their messages of support in relation to the job which our medic colleagues do in the face of DAILY abuse from a very small but very vocal minority.
We have been covering stories such as instances of abuse and assault on members of the emergency services ever since we started our WordPress site back in November 2017.
And since then, we nearly 300,000 people have read about what REALLY happens on the frontline of the emergency services from the people who actually serve on such a front line.
The frequency of these sort of incidents is increasing and something needs to be done about it. No member of the emergency services or NHS should ever have to go to work wondering whether or not ‘is today the day that I am going to be abused or assaulted’?
If we cannot look after the men and women who are entrusted to look after us, then what chance do we ever have of becoming a ‘civilised’ society?
We have been keeping a close eye on the Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill 2017-19 that is currently making it way through Parliament, as, once passed as statute, then this bill will help, in some way, to punish those who believe that our emergency services can be used as a ‘punching bag’.
ANY form of threatening behaviour aimed towards our emergency services is disgraceful. There is no excuse for it.
Unfortunately, I witnessed my fair share of this abuse when I served in the Metropolitan Police (London). Not only was this abuse and violence aimed at my colleagues in blue, but also against members of the London Ambulance Service and members of the London Fire Brigade as well.
I even saw violence and abuse directed at my former oppos in the RNLI when I was a volunteer crew member on one of the busiest UK Coastal Search & Rescue Stations.
Often, alcohol plays a large part in the frequency and severity of these sort of incidents. But also, individuals who believe that society somehow ‘owes’ them something make up a large proportion of the ‘demographic’ behind these sort of disgraceful incidents.
The Assault on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill won’t be enough to deter idiots from threatening and assaulting members of the emergency services.
They need a punishment that reflects their utter contempt and lack of respect for the brave men and women who risk their own lives in order to save the life of a complete stranger.
Anyone convicted of threatening or assaulting a member of the emergency services MUST have their access to the 999 system withdrawn.
Many will disagree with this sentiment and that’s fine; we are all entitled to our own opinion. But how else are we supposed to deal with the sort of individual who thinks that abusing our emergency services is in any way justified?
Answers on a postcode please (or send us a tweet @ES_Humour)
Written by one of the many Admins of Emergency Services Humour on Facebook, who is also a regular blogger in our popular fortnightly eMagazine, S__ts & Giggles.
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