Thousands of Scottish streets 'too dangerous' for ambulance crews to attend without cops

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Thousands of Scottish addresses are too dangerous for ambulance crews to attend without police back-up shock figures reveal.Now demands have been made for better protection for 999 crews after Scotland’s most dangerous “no-go zones” were disclosed.

Among those areas with the highest number of “red flag” addresses were north Edinburgh, Kilmarnock and Paisley.A total of 4418 addresses across the country are “red-flagged”.

Almost 800 attacks were carried out over the last five years on crews, including 16 sexual assaults, prompting the demands for police protection for some call-outs.Derek Thompson of the Unite trade union, which represents ambulance workers, said: “On a daily basis ambulance crews are confronted with situations where they may have to wait for considerable time periods at locations until the police arrive.“Often the most suitable crew can’t be deployed to these ‘red-flag’ properties as they are responding at another location.“The chain of events causes further delays and heaps even more pressure on our stretched ambulance service.

There is a snowball effect and at the heart of the problem is inadequate investment and resourcing for our emergency response services.” Karen Leonard, GMB Scotland organiser, said: “These figures should shock every Scot but will not surprise a single ambulance worker.“The number of addresses where our members are at risk is far higher than those with red-flags while many of the most dangerous individuals may have moved and are at another address entirely.“Our members arrive for work not knowing where they will be asked to attend or what they will face when they get there.