CALLS for paramedics to be given stab vests have been given a lukewarm reception by union leaders and the Yorkshire Ambulance Service.

The Press highlighted last month how verbal and physical attacks against paramedics and ambulance workers had risen dramatically.

Vine Larvin, the Yorkshire Ambulance Service's assistant director of operations, said that from being virtually unheard of 25 years ago, incidents of abuse of some sort were virtually a daily occurrence now.

After the article appeared, The Association of Professional Ambulance Personnel (APAP) contacted The Press to tell how it had long been campaigning for ambulance crews to be given protective clothing.

Jonathan Fox, of the association, said members had been campaigning for ten years now for personal protection equipment like stab vests to become standard equipment available to all staff if they want them.

But Glen Gears, UNISON's regional convenor for ambulance workers, said it was more important that ambulance crews were given as much information as possible before attending incidents.

He said stab vests had been trialled in Manchester and it was found that criminal gangs actually started targeting ambulance crews so they could steal the vests.

He said he had done a survey a couple of years ago among his colleagues and found that between 80 and 90 per cent of them did not want stab vests, adding that staff would have to wear the vests constantly as they could never be sure when and if an incident will turn violent.

Robin Hays, assistant director of health, safety and risk for Yorkshire Ambulance Service, said the service had no plans to introduce stab vests because of issues including manoeuvrability problems, infection control issues and female members of staff having experienced sexual harassment due to the close-fitting nature of the vests.

But he said: "A number of measures are in place to help protect Yorkshire Ambulance Service's frontline crews.

"Known assailants are flagged on our records meaning if someone calls 999 from a flagged address the police will also be sent, our crews have a hotkey' facility which enables them to get emergency assistance if needed, and we follow a strict lone worker policy which means that any single-manned crews will not be sent to certain incidents which could put them in danger.

"Plans are also in place to give all frontline crews conflict resolution training."

But Mr Fox, of APAP, said modern stab vests did not restrict movement and were already available to staff in London. A paramedic himself he said he wore his if he was called to an incident where there was the potential for problems.

And he said that the problems in Manchester did not mean that staff should not be issued with stab vests since ambulances were already targeted for their satellite navigation systems but those items were not being withdrawn.