The perpetrator responsible for damaging a St John Ambulance vehicle at Bumbu, Lae, paid over K4,000 in court fine and damages.
At around 7pm on Saturday, 25th November, Lae-based St John Ambulance crew were informed of an emergency at Bumbu.
The usual two-person crew arrived at the scene only to find themselves ambushed by an intoxicated individual wielding a hammer.
The suspect, who had allegedly made the false call, attacked the vehicle, causing extensive damage to its windscreen while the two officers managed to escape.
The suspect was soon apprehended by members of the National Criminal Intelligence Unit and Special Response Unit 108 at Igam Block on the night of Tuesday, the 5th of December.
When giving an update, St John’s Momase regional commander, Anderson Poumb, said: “He was brought to court and was fined for this incident."
“Court fine, and also, he paid for the damaged glass. He was fined a court fine of K2,000, and the damaged glass was K2,200. He paid for that.
“As a non-profit organisation, we are here to help the people that are in need of medical assistance and pre-hospital care. We work 24/7, in the middle of the night, like 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock, early hours in the morning. We risk ourselves to go into those areas where some people think it’s a bit risky to go, but we risk our lives to save a life.
“So, my advice to the communities or settlements and suburbs, it’s best not to attack an ambulance or the ambulance officers, to harm them and all this. We don’t carry anything around; we don’t carry money also. We provide this service of pre-hospital care. It’s free-of-charge to help mothers, especially mothers who are in labour; they need this assistance.”
The ambulance service recently released a statement saying the mental trauma ambulance officers endure from such attacks and the stress faced daily by the call centre operators are very concerning.
“Currently, there are no laws protecting St John officers specifically. There is no law making it illegal to falsely call the ambulance service,” said Chair of the National St John Council, Dame Jean Kekedo.
“There is no law making it a specific offence to hinder ambulance officers from performing their duties.”
Dame Jean emphasised that strict laws must be implemented to protect the ambulance first responders so they can save lives.