A PARAMEDIC last night spoke out about the aggression she and her colleagues are facing after an attack left her bruised and the windscreen of her ambulance smashed.

Joni Bousie and her colleague Matthew Luker were called to a help a 52-year-old man in West Street, Osney Island, Oxford, on Friday night when the incident happened.

Miss Bousie suffered bruising while the ambulance windscreen was smashed after a traffic cone was put through it.

Last night, Didcot-based Miss Bousie said: “I am shocked and appalled by what has happened and felt in an awful predicament not to be able to help a patient due to fear for my safety. It all happened so quickly and is a bit of a blur, I remember feeling shocked and angry immediately afterwards.”

The ambulance technician, who was left with bruising, said: “I joined the ambulance service in 2008 as I wanted to pursue a career in health care that would allow me to care for and help others in need and at times of distress.

“This incident has undoubtedly led me to be even more aware of the increasing risk we as ambulance staff find ourselves in.”

The windscreen had to be replaced and as a result the vehicle was off the road until the next day, meaning it was out of action during a busy Friday night shift.

In 2006 Mr Luker himself was the victim of an assault when he was bitten by Daniel Howard on the arm in Rose Hill, Oxford.

Howard, then 39, was given a 20-month suspended prison sentence and ordered to do 250 hours’ community work.

Condemning violence against ambulance staff, South Central Ambulance Service area director John Nichols said: “In line with the rest of the NHS, SCAS Foundation Trust has a zero tolerance policy towards violence against our staff.

“We would condemn attacks on our staff and vehicles and where possible always prosecute.

“Our staff are highly trained clinical professionals who deliver a vital service to members of the public and to have them subjected to irresponsible and unnecessary verbal abuse is intolerable.”

SCAS statistics issued in September last year showed that in the five preceding months seven ambulance service employees in Oxfordshire had been attacked on the job.

Alison Shire, 31, of Ferry Hinksey Road, has been charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer, common assault against Miss Bousie and criminal damage to an ambulance.

She has been bailed to appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on March 21.