Ambulance staff suffer an average of seven attacks or assaults per month

A place of safety for patients, ambulances are all too often the scene of attacks on paramedics according to data released by the National Ambulance Service. File picture: Denis Minihane

There have been more than 170 cases of abuse or assault on ambulance staff over the past two years with physical assaults, threats and intimidation, and a sexual assault all reported.

Figures from the National Ambulance Service (NAS) reveal how serious incidents were being reported at the rate of around seven per month during 2020 and 2021.