Pregnant paramedic punched as attacks threaten care

Ambulance Victoria CEO Jordan Emery told reporters Monday the latest assault added to the recent slew of attacks on his staff.

He said in the past week alone Victorian paramedics had been bitten on the face, shoved and threatened with scissors. 

"If my people are not safe... we will withdraw care," Mr Emery told reporters at the Ambulance Victoria headquarters in Doncaster on Monday.

"If their lives are in danger, we cannot help you or your loved ones."

Victoria implemented laws in October 2018 to mandate a six-month jail term for injuring emergency workers, unless there were "special reasons".

Last month, an on-duty paramedic was stabbed in the neck and slashed in the face during an unprovoked incident outside a cafe.

At the time, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan committed to strengthening laws surrounding attacks on emergency workers.

Although the accused was charged with attempted murder, the attack did not fall under the laws.

The paramedic was not considered "on duty", to the letter of the laws, as he was waiting for a coffee outside a cafe when the attack occurred.

Laws were tightened after 22-year-old James Haberfield avoided prison despite admitting to assaulting a paramedic on drugs at a music festival.

Haberfield received an 18-month community corrections order, including treatment for schizophrenia, which he had at the time of the attack.

Under tightened laws, a person's mental state can no longer be used as a "special reason" defence for assaulting an emergency worker.

Health Minister Harriet Shing noted the case involving the pregnant paramedic would be covered this time as she was on duty.

She said reforming the laws, under review by the Victorian Law Reform Commission, was an urgent priority for the state government.

"Being a paramedic can be inherently dangerous work," Ms Shing said.

"People deserve better than to be assaulted in their workplace."

Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier suggested the attack on a pregnant paramedic was a sign of the times.

"This attack is one that I think most Victorians will just shake their heads in dismay and ask what on earth is going on," she said.