An on-duty paramedic has been stabbed in the neck and slashed in the face in a shocking daylight attack in Melbourne’s north. The Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance paramedic was assaulted outside a cafe on Broadway at Reservoir just after 11am on Thursday.
He was ordering a coffee when he was allegedly attacked from behind, leaving him with neck and face wounds, the Victorian Ambulance Union said. Police allege a 32-year-old man got out of a small red car, stabbed the paramedic, and fled the scene.
Footage seen by 7NEWS shows the attacker pull up on the side of the road, get out of his parked car and walk directly towards the MICA vehicle and paramedic before stabbing him and running from the scene. A blade from a knife left behind at the scene has been seized by police.
The paramedic was transported to hospital after a bystander rushed to help. He was arrested at a property on Winter Cr in Reservoir just before 1pm and remains in custody, where he is being questioned by detectives.
Witness accounts and police response
A member of the public rushed to help the paramedic, who also called for assistance over the radio. “He was bleeding quite heavily and he applied direct pressure to that wound,” a witness said. Police described his injuries as serious but non-life-threatening.
Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jordan Emery said he was relieved the paramedic — a father of a young child — could return home to his family, but condemned the “unprovoked and random” attack. “It is absolutely disgraceful. It continues across all Australian jurisdictions and it must stop now,” Emery said.
“My people behind me have had a gutful of this violence and it is completely unacceptable that those people who spend their lives caring for others, who give so much to care for their communities, continue to face violence on a daily basis.”
Psychological toll and union response
He said the recovery would focus not only on physical injuries, but also the psychological toll on the paramedic and his colleagues. “In years to come, people will continue to be frightened by this appalling incident and whether they are truly safe coming to work every day for the purposes of providing care to all of you,” he said.
“When they are confronted with this violence, it makes them ask a fundamental question, what am I doing this for? Am I safe to keep doing this?”
Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill called for the offender to face the full force of the law. “This is a vile and chilling attack on one of our paramedics and it must never be tolerated,” Hill said. “These events send a shockwave across the whole workforce.”
Both Hill and Emery thanked the bystander who intervened to help, and confirmed they were not injured. Anyone who witnessed the incident, or has dashcam or CCTV footage, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
