St John medics rushing to save a patient having a heart attack in a Hawke's Bay pub in December found themselves caught in a drunken fight and were roughed up and assaulted.
In Canterbury in the same month, members of another ambulance crew were kicked in the head by a patient high on drugs, while in Auckland a crew had a gun pulled on them as they helped a domestic assault victim.
The three incidents were among a continued spike in assaults on St John staff in December as 11 sought hospital treatment following serious incidents, up from five in December 2015.
St John New Zealand chief executive Peter Bradley said the increase was sadly predictable because half of all assaults on ambulance medics were alcohol-fuelled.
"There is a predictable increase in abuse and assaults on ambulance officers in the month of December, in part due to drinking and substance abuse related to holiday season festivities,'' he said.
The rise in assaults also came despite St John's December launch of a graphic video campaign aimed at stopping the violence.
With almost 3000 St John staff members reporting they were physically or verbally assaulted on the job in 2016, the campaign used the slogan "Hands off our ambos'' to raise awareness of the dangers they face.
Mr Bradley said the video had been a success, with 500,000 views, including a large number by its main target audience of 18-to-24-year-old men. - NZN
2016 incidents
