Police in Vancouver say a man has been arrested after allegedly assaulting a paramedic who was tending to a patient in the city’s downtown. The incident occurred just before 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, when investigators say the paramedic was with a patient near West Hastings and Abbott streets. A man approached the medic and asked for some water before striking him on the head and fleeing the area, the Vancouver Police Department said in a news release Thursday. Police say the paramedic sustained minor injuries. A suspect was located a block away and arrested. “Assault charges are being recommended against the 27-year-old man,” police said. A spokesperson for B.C. Emergency Health Services says the injured paramedic was treated in hospital and has since been released. “Fortunately, they did not suffer serious physical injuries,” said Leanne Heppell, executive vice-president and chief ambulance officer at BCEHS, in an email to CTV News. “There is no circumstance where violence against paramedics, or any health-care worker, is acceptable,” Heppell added. “Our paramedics come to work every day to care for people, often during some of the most difficult and vulnerable moments in their lives. They deserve to be able to do that work safely.” Last year, the Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. union launched a violence-prevention campaign calling attention to what it described as rising incidents of assaults against paramedics across the province. BCEHS says it will review the circumstances surrounding Tuesday’s assault to better understand how paramedics can be better protected in the future. Heppell said the agency will also notify WorkSafeBC, the province’s workplace safety regulator, about the incident.
