MORE than one person a month is injured in, or by, an ambulance in the Tayside area, new figures have revealed.
New statistics provided to the Tele show there have been more than 51 reported injuries in ambulances since 2013.
These have been caused by people hitting ambulance doors, seats or ramps — one was even hit on the head by an oxygen bottle valve.
The most recently reported incident was in October, when a patient sustained moderate injuries when the ambulance was involved in a crash.
They had a seat belt exemption and had chosen not to wear it.
Six people have been hurt as a result of an ambulance being involved in a road accident.
Of the 51 incidents, 13 saw an injury to a patient. Most were hurt as they first boarded the ambulances.
Ambulance staff are most at risk of an injury, accounting for about three quarters of the incidents, ranging from minor to moderate injuries.
The most common was caused by the ambulance’s doors, seats or ramps.
However, three members of staff were assaulted by patients.
One was bitten by a patient last August, suffering minor injuries, while another paramedic received a needlestick injury.
One of the more serious incidents was “the moderate injuries” caused to a staff member as they conducted CPR in the ambulance.
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokesman said: “Ambulance staff care for more than 130,000 patients in Tayside every year.
“They often respond to incidents in the most challenging conditions.
“All frontline staff receive extensive health and safety training in manual handling and the use of ambulance equipment, as well as specialist driver training.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service has said it will be recruiting a further 300 paramedics over the next five years, as they have seen their budget swell by £11.4 million.
NHS Tayside were approached for comment from the Tele, but had not responded at the time of going to press.