Blood-soaked face of ambulance worker battered by patient

Retired firefighter Bob Burness was treating a patient when he lashed out at him



This is the face of a West Midlands Ambulance Service worker who has been left battered and bloodied after being attacked while he was on duty.

Ambulance technician Bob Burness was called out last Tuesday, but was attacked by the very patient he was treating.

Bob and the rest of his team were called to reports of an unconscious man who was slumped in the stairwell of a block of flats in West Bromwich.

The grandfather-of-five was left with a bloodied face and clothes and a headache when the male he was assisting lashed out at him.

59-year-old Bob, from Great Barr, said: “We started doing our assessments and at this point he started to wake up and get more aggressive.

“He threw a beer can at a woman volunteer student and then squared up to her – so I stepped in front of him to calm him down.

“Without warning, he just headbutted me.

“He kep t hitting me on the nose and mouth, which knocked me back . And then chased the paramedic up the stairs.

“At this stage, I had recovered enough and I ran upstairs, too.

“Between us, we managed to bring him downstairs and restrained him until the police arrived. He was handcuffed and taken away.”

Meanwhile, another ambulance was called to take care of Bob’s own injuries.

He suffered soft tissue damage to his nose and headaches for a couple of days.

However, the male he tried to treat, has been jailed for 12 weeks for the assault.

Donald Hornby, 25, of no fixed abode was charged with assault and jailed for 12 weeks when he appeared before Dudley Magistrates on Thursday. He was also issued with a £250 fine.

Bob, who has worked for nearly 30 years as a firefighter for West Midlands Fire Service before joining the ambulance service, says attacks on crews have become routine.

“I’ve been pushed down a flight of stairs, I’ve been spat at,” he said.

“It’s almost normal for certain members of the community who attack us for no obvious reason – but it won’t put me off.”

West Midlands Ambulance Service’s general manager for Birmingham, Nathan Hudson, said: “We welcome the fact that a custodial sentence has been issued in this case – but we are disappointed that it is not longer. Is 12 weeks enough for a serious assault on a member of ambulance staff who had been called to try to help the defendant?

“It is extremely disappointing that our staff suffer physical and verbal abuse when all they are trying to do is help members of the public with medical emergencies.”

To think that some one else might of needed that service who was genuine but denied it because of him.

He was lucky they turned up for him they would nt in Coventry if they had been drinking even if a micky finn was slipped into a drink with out that person knowing they would say call the police.

I can see before long ambulance s will be accompanied by a protection team.

Many years ago I had to attend a first aid course. I'll always remember the instructor advising us to take extreme care with anyone unconscious (quite likely as I was an electrician). He advised us that if they came round whilst we were treating them they could act very unpredictably.

I'm in no way condoning this guy's actions, but I can perhaps understand that he might have been incredibly scared.