Anon,

So someone with learning difficulties, who requires an ambulance and due to an inability to understand the situation gets aggresive and lashes out should just "take responsibility for themselves"? Really?

Perhaps you'd like to read my entire post and not jut cherry pick the point you disagree with?

@ Nathan

Urine is only sterile when it is in your bladdder, once it has left your body this sterility cannot be guaranteed

Nathan are you for real?
Individuals need to take responsibility for themselves and their actions and stop making excuses such as drink and drugs. stay in control of your own behaviour surely?
Why should they report a reduction when the simple fact is the ambulance service along with hospital staff are trying to help people, often made difficult by irresponsible individuals.
People need to stop abusing a system that is already struggling.

2 points to make about this article:

1) Urine is sterile. There's no need to sterilise anything after it's been urinated upon. Clean it, yes. Clean it thoroughly, but sterilisation? No. That's either bad reporting or a poor understanding by the person interviewed.

2) I read this article and saw that one year the number of attacks was 17, the next year it was 13. Instead of going with the positive headline of "24% reduction in attacks on ambulace staff", the good ol' News and Star makes it out to be an endemic problem and we're living in a broken society where yobs frequently attack paramedics and wreck ambulances. How many of these 'attacks' were done by people either mentally ill, highly traumatised or very drunk? How many of them were legitimate, premeditated attacks and not just a violent reaction to a situation the person felt was out of their control? 13 attacks. That's very slightly over 1 a month. Ambulance staff, heck -any- staff who deal with the public, are going to face threats and violence at some point; that's the nature of dealing with anyone and everyone, especially in a role where you're going to be dealing with situtions that would require an ambulance.

There were over a million ambulance call-outs in the North West region in 2010/11 (it's the biggest free ambulance service in the world). Even taking into account that this covers Manchester and Liverpool, it leaves room for a large number in the Cumbria area. A total of 13 attacks is not especially high and whilst any attack is a terrible thing, the News and Star is being highly disingenous to suggest this is a big problem.

Perhaps instead of reading this as "Attacks on ambulance staff!" people should've been told "Number of attacks down by a quarter, it's still very rare!"

Give the ambulance crews tazer guns and let them use them if need be.

Sadly indicative of the broken society we live in

thought there would be cctv systems on emergancy vehicles,why doesnt the news and star show these idiots pictures they wont do it a 2nd time when we all know who there are.

Absolutely agree with everyones comments on the filth that do this.....
Sad thing is some lawyer will no doubt defend them and their 'human rights' to do what they do....

Its about par for the scum that live in this country and the court system that does not punish,but at the end of the day its the parents and even grandparents faults,my kids never done any of this but then I taught them right from wrong

Use your phone,,photo,film them then see if the police will prosecute (But be careful)