NEW Year – New Aspirations.
Rather than going over the trials and tribulations of last year, I prefer to look ahead with renewed vigour in order to see what our society can do better, in order to make improvements to our way of life.
The area that offends me greatly, and needs to be corrected immediately, is the reported treatment of first responders by some elements of society.
At present, it is Victorian-based paramedics who are pointing out how they are treated by some members of the public when attending to provide often life saving actions on people experiencing difficulty in public locations.
Their reports include being attacked, bashed, spat upon and physically abused when trying to respond to life threatening events to ordinary citizens who desperately need their expertise in order to survive.
These issues are not just Victorian happenings, as Ambulance and Paramedic officers regularly report these extremes in every state of Australia.
The reality is that someone views an event, an accident, a drug related issue late at night, or even a heart attack on the street or in a shopping centre, then immediately phones 000 seeking help from ambulances officers, police or any medical professional, in the expectation that help will arrive and the victim will be given the best chance of survival.
It simply is unbelievable, irrational, incomprehensible and unthinkable that when skilled help arrives with the full intention of saving a life, that chronic idiots who are obviously out there, would attack or in some way interfere with these magnificent individuals with life saving skills from providing such necessary service to an unrelated victim.
I know that the most popular form of defense in court these days is to claim mental impairment, when charged with these cowardly and irrational offenses.
Has our society degraded to such an extent that these excuses are being used as a defense for the crime of attacking life saving assistance provided by these professionals.
It is simply outside my ability to understand their rationale.
I’m sure you can’t legislate to prevent this appalling situation from happening, but our society needs to have a firm reaction to these offenders who commit such disgusting crimes in the hope that we can stamp out the madness of such an event.
By John BLACKBOURN
You can help your local paper.
Make a small once-off, or (if you can) a regular donation.
We are an independent family owned business and our newspapers are free to collect and our news stories are free online.
Help support us into the future.
