Peterborough EMS Bob English says paramedics often dealing with people at their worst     (PETERBOROUGH) Peterborough EMS chief Bob English says paramedics are frequently grabbed, slapped and spat on. That being said, he's not shocked recent research out of St. Michael's Hospital shows more than two-thirds of paramedics have encountered abuse on the job. Of respondents surveyed:   - 67.4 per cent reported verbal abuse, with 62.9 per cent of this group saying it was perpetrated by patients, 36.4 per cent saying it was perpetrated by the patient's family or friends, 20.8 by colleagues, and 5.8 per cent by…

HAMDEN, Connecticut (AP) — A paramedic raped a woman as she lay unconscious and strapped to a stretcher in the back of an ambulance on the way to a hospital, police said Friday. The 22-year-old woman, who had fallen and suffered a concussion at a holiday party, says she woke up to find the man assaulting her inside the ambulance on Dec. 25, according to Hamden police. She said she could not move because she was strapped down. Mark Powell, 49, of North Haven, surrendered Thursday to face charges of first-degree sexual assault and unlawful restraint and was released on…

Helicopter paramedic Mick Wilson has been remembered as a hero at his Sydney funeral. That's how family and friends remembered the helicopter paramedic at his funeral at St James Anglican Church in central Sydney on Tuesday. The 41-year-old from Gymea Bay died while saving two canyoners on Christmas Eve near Carrington Falls, southwest of Wollongong. He was leaving a cliff face with his patient strapped to him to be winched up to a helicopter when something went wrong. The pair were swept back into the cliff wall and Mr Wilson was caught between the patient and the rocks. Mr Wilson,…

A SUNSHINE Coast ambulance officer says colleagues are furious that only one paramedic was available to be sent to the fatal Tewantin fire on Boxing Day. The ambulance officer said staff numbers was the issue and standard rostering meant only one intensive care paramedic worked the overnight shift. That paramedic, from Maroochydore, was the only ambulance available to respond to the fire on Jacaranda Pl about 3.30am on Monday. The blaze killed Matt Golinski's wife Rachael and the couple's three daughters Sage, Willow and Starlia and left the celebrity chef fighting for his life in the Royal Brisbane Hospital. The…

  Minister of Alberta Health and Wellness looks for explanation and official policy Health officials in Lethbridge are defending a decision to call an ambulance for a woman who collapsed right in front of the hospital.     The woman keeled over about 100 meters from the main entrance of the Chinook Regional Hospital on Friday. A passerby ran into the hospital to get medical help but was told the receptionist would call 911. It took about 15 minutes for the ambulance to arrive and then drive the patient to the emergency ward, said Tony Stephan, who witnessed the incident.…