Paramedic Joanna Paskell is suffering regular panic attacks after being assaulted by a patient at Cardiff's University Hospital of Wales last May. She is one of a growing number of emergency worker in Wales who are the victims of assault.
The monthly average of emergency worker assaults has increased from 203 in 2019 to 226 in 2020, to 237 in 2021, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.9%. More than 1,440 assaults were committed in the six-month period from July 1, 2021 to December 31, 2021, new figures out on Monday (May 30) have revealed.
The top five most common types of assault were kicking, spitting, verbal abuse, punching and shoving. Recalling her attack, Joanna, who has got 25 years of experience, said: “It was while we were trying to move the patient from the trolley to a bed that she lashed out and punched me straight in the chest.
