Paramedic and nursing officials have condemned two separate assaults against health workers in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, saying their people are not "punching bags" for the public whom they are "devoting themselves to care for".
Two people were sentenced in the Kalgoorlie Magistrates Court this week over unrelated assaults on health workers.
In March, 48-year-old Wiluna man Ernest Stanley Wongawol punched an emergency room nurse at Kalgoorlie Health Campus.
Wongawol pleaded guilty to assaulting a public officer and was sentenced to seven months' imprisonment, which was suspended for 12 months.
The court heard Wongawol became "enraged" when asking for pain medication and punched the registered nurse with a closed fist to her right breast.
The woman had previously been diagnosed with breast cancer and felt "immediate pain", the prosecution said.
Wongawol's lawyer told the court he was "very sorry" for his behaviour and that he respected the role of nurses because he was a carer for his wife who had spent several months in a renal hostel.
Wongawol was "very drunk" and in "extreme pain" when he lashed out, the lawyer said.
Woman slapped paramedic
In a separate case, 59-year-old Ronda Jean Star pleaded guilty to slapping a female paramedic in the face while in the back of an ambulance in November.
Star's lawyer told the court her client had struck the paramedic by accident after trying to get out of the ambulance.
The court also heard Star tried to prevent the paramedic from calling the police by knocking a phone from her hand.
Magistrate Janie Gibbs placed Star on an eight-month community-based order, saying the totality of her behaviour did not seem accidental.
Call for tougher penalties
Australian Nursing Federation WA secretary Janet Reah described the assaults against the Kalgoorlie health workers as "abhorrent".
"This is not a new trend," she said.
"We're finding that assaults and abuse are worsening over time."
She said there needed to be harsher penalties for offenders.
"We're not punching bags, we're there to help you.
"We're working in a system that is not ideal, particularly at the moment; we're doing our best and lashing out at the health staff is absolutely abhorrent."
The head of country operations for St John Ambulance, Justin Fonte, said assaults were rare.
He described any assault on health workers as a "disgusting act" and agreed tough penalties should be applied.
"Leniency really shouldn't be considered when it comes to dealing with these cases either … we actually do feel very strongly about that," Mr Fonte said.
"There needs to be as many deterrents to aggressive and violent behaviour as possible.
"We're talking about people that are devoting themselves to care for you, for the person that they're going out to transport to hospital or to care for."
