An ambulance crew was attacked at a house in Eastleigh, Hampshire after responding to a hoax report of a 13-year-old girl having a heart attack.
Bricks, glasses and furniture were lobbed at emergency services personnel from upper windows as the rapid response team attempted to enter the house on Stranding Street yesterday evening.
No staff were injured by the barrage, but “a rapid response car and ambulance were damaged during the violence”, Sky News reports.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
With the help of police and backup ambulance crews, first responders were ultimately able to enter the property, where they determined that the 999 call was a hoax.
The attack left the personnel involved “extremely shaken”, South Central Ambulance Service said in a Facebook post, alongside photos of some of the debris thrown at staff.
The apparent ambush of a working ambulance crew “beggars belief”, the ambulance service said.
"What makes this even worse is that all the staff and vehicles we sent were diverted from local people in genuine pain and distress with real illnesses, real injuries and real emergencies by our equally frustrated and appalled control room team.”
Two girls, aged 13 and 14, have been arrested on suspicion of assault, wasting police time and use of threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour to cause harassment, alarm or distress.