12/01/2026
It is beyond belief Scottish Ambulance staff are left open to serious assaults and the perpetrators do not face charges under the 2005 Act to protect emergency workers from assault by those they are assisting.
Even worse is the response from Scottish Ambulance Service management, leaving the paramedic feeling unsupported after a serious assault.
This is not the first time we have come across SAS management failing front line workers.
Last year we submitted FOI requests to Scotland's blue light services, the response from SAS showed their organisational risk assessment to be out of date although its does appear they were working on an update at the time we submitted our request !!!
We wonder if it has been completed yet.
https://www.scottishambulance.com/contact-us/freedom-of-information/foi-requests/foi-25-123-organisation-stress-assessment/
Assault on Borders Paramedic Drew Dodd Raises Serious Questions Over Post-Incident Support
A Borders paramedic who was violently assaulted while responding to an emergency call in Edinburgh has spoken out — not only about the attack itself, but about what he describes as a series of troubling failures that followed.
Drew Dodd, a paramedic based in the Scottish Borders and a UNISON workplace steward, was responding to a call involving an intoxicated male who had fallen and sustained a head injury. Initially, the patient was calm and cooperative.
Due to the combination of intoxication and head injury, Drew and his colleague advised that hospital assessment was necessary. However, while en route, the situation escalated rapidly.
The patient suddenly stood up while the ambulance was moving. Concerned for safety, Drew asked him to sit back down and, anticipating the need for police assistance, attempted to radio an urgent call.
“As soon as I pressed the button, he punched me in the face,” Drew explained. The blow knocked the radio across the vehicle. The patient then struck him again, causing him to fall to the floor, before hitting him repeatedly.
For his own safety, Drew was forced to restrain the patient while his colleague activated the panic alarm until police arrived.
The incident forms part of a wider and growing problem across Scotland. New figures show that Scottish Ambulance Service staff are assaulted or abused every single day, with hundreds of incidents recorded annually .
But while the physical assault itself was serious, Drew says the response afterwards was equally concerning.
According to Drew, the Scottish Ambulance Service refused to provide ambulance CCTV footage following the incident. Despite having just been assaulted, he was sent straight back out on another job and heard nothing further from the Service for some time.
He also states that requests from Police Scotland for CCTV footage were ignored. It was only after Drew indicated he would raise a formal grievance that the Service responded — at which point he was informed that the CCTV was “faulty”.
Compounding matters further, the original charge of assaulting an emergency worker was later dropped and reduced to common assault.
For Drew, the experience highlighted not only the risks faced by frontline ambulance staff, but what he sees as a lack of organisational support once violence occurs.
Across Scotland, ambulance workers are regularly spat at, punched, kicked, threatened with weapons, and subjected to abuse while carrying out their duties. Many incidents result in physical injury, psychological trauma, and in some cases staff leaving the Service altogether.
UNISON Scottish Ambulance Branch says Drew’s case raises serious questions about post-incident procedures, staff welfare, evidence preservation, and cooperation with criminal investigations.
Union representatives stress that assaults on ambulance workers must be treated as serious workplace incidents, with immediate welfare support, transparent communication, and full cooperation with police — not silence, delays, or the need for staff to escalate concerns through grievances simply to be heard.
Drew is not just a paramedic — he is also a UNISON steward who supports colleagues facing workplace issues. The Branch says no staff member should ever feel abandoned after being assaulted in the line of duty.
As violence against emergency workers continues to rise, UNISON is calling for meaningful action to ensure ambulance staff are protected not only during incidents, but in the crucial days and weeks that follow.
Because no one who goes to work to save lives should have to fight their own employer to be supported afterwards.
