A PARAMEDIC who had a noxious substance thrown at her while responding to a call of a man suffering with chest pains has described her attackers as cowards.
The 32-year-old female paramedic was flagged down on Sunday morning by three men in the Tottenham Hale area of London.
When she stopped to see if the men were in need of assistance, they pulled up bandanas to cover their faces and began squirting the liquid onto her face from a plastic bottle.
In a statement issued by the NHS, the paramedic said: “It was horrible. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me.
“It all happened very quickly – one of them threw liquid out of a plastic bottle at me. The window was only open a few inches but the liquid went on my face, neck and chest.
“He was wearing latex gloves, so my first thought was, is this acid?”
It later emerged that the liquid was not acid but it did cause irritation and the paramedic was taken to hospital but later discharged.
She said: “It was terrifying. This was so cowardly. It is my job to help people. I was on my way to help a patient and I stopped because I am caring and I thought they needed my help.
“They have taken away my trust.
“What they’ve done is horrific in so many ways. It was premeditated and it delayed a patient getting treatment. It took a paramedic off the road that night.
“And yet if one my attackers were hurt, I would still treat them because that is the job.”
Attacks using acid have been on the rise in England in recent years.
Addressing recent incidents and the recent increase in acid attacks, Chief Inspector Ben Clark of the Met Police said that businesses need to be increasingly aware of the use of such substances as a weapon.
“Of late we have seen more attacks using corrosive substances in London,” he said.
“I would urge businesses and parents to challenge those who they think may be trying to obtain or carry these substances as this could help prevent serious offences and life changing injuries being caused.”
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