About 40 paramedics have attended a regional Victorian court as the cases of two women accused of assaulting emergency workers in separate incidents were heard by a magistrate.
Ambulance Victoria data showed there were 696 incidents of occupational violence against paramedics between July 2020 and June 2021.
"It's never OK to assault emergency workers," Victorian ambulance union member Ward Young said.
"When this occurs, it doesn't just touch one of us — it touches all of us.
"The implications of that can be lifelong and potentially career-ending."
Mr Young said a paramedic was assaulted every 50 hours in Victoria, on average, and 95 per cent of healthcare workers experienced violence and aggression in their workplace.
Potential jail time for assault
In Victoria, the law states assaulting an emergency worker carries a mandatory jail sentence and statutory minimum sentencing guidelines are in place for injuring an emergency worker.
The minimum jail sentence for assaulting an emergency worker is six months unless there are special circumstances.
Mr Young said recent incidents involving emergency workers and first responders in Victoria and across the borders had caused paramedics to reconsider how much they could tolerate in their efforts to try to help people.
"We know some of the scenes are quite emotionally charged, that we step into," he said.
"We're happy to step into those, but we need your help to take your mate aside if they're pushing the boundaries, and make sure you protect us so we can protect you.
The protest follows several recent incidents involving emergency service workers.
Two police officers were stabbed while responding to an incident in South Australia last week.
A paramedic in New South Wales was allegedly stabbed to death outside a McDonald's last month.
A Service NSW worker was stabbed in a service centre in Sydney last week.
