Vandals target brand-new ambulance in sickening attack

Ambulance staff in Queensland, Australia, have been left devastated after one of their brand-new vehicles was trashed by vandals at the weekend.

The Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) shared photos of the disgusting crime on its Facebook page on Saturday, showing the new twin stretcher unit covered in graffiti tags.

“Where has the respect gone?” QAS asked. “What a kick in the guts for our officers who care for the community. Staff at our Woodridge station south of Brisbane arrived at work this morning to find one of our new twin stretcher units vandalised, covered in graffiti.”

QAS said because of the vandalism, the vehicle had to be taken off the roads and was unable to respond to people in need.

“The perpetrators of this senseless act should remember it may be them or a loved one that may need our urgent care,” QAS said.

The act was met with disgust by not only local residents, but people all around Australia.

One person wrote: “Come on government, toughen up the justice system, kids (and adults) can’t keep getting away with this sort of disrespect and mindless vandalism”.

Another said: “I hope they find who did this and that they receive a lifetime ban on getting any ambulance assistance… this is horrendous”.

A third message added: “Unfortunately this comes down to all the ‘do-gooders’ in the past who decided children had more rights than responsibilities. Parents can’t smack, teachers can’t punish…. Kids run wild with no concept of respect. And parenting these days is all about entitlement – it’s really sad”.

Meanwhile, others offered their assistance in cleaning up the vehicle and get it back on the roads.

A day later, QAS returned to Facebook with a much happier post and to update the community on the status of the ambulance vehicle. In 24 hours, the truck had been cleaned and returned to its original state.

“The Queensland Ambulance family, especially our staff at Woodridge, would just like to say a heartfelt thanks to literally thousands of people that made contact to offer their personal help or services to clean our vehicle following the vandalism of our vehicle yesterday,” the message read. “From Mums, Dads, entire families, and local businesses around the area your comments, offers of support and general appreciation of what we do for the community has been simply overwhelming. For that we are truly grateful.”

The service also had a message for the culprits and encouraged them to realise their behaviour was unacceptable. Thankfully, the vehicle has now returned to the streets and is back to assisting those at most in need.

It’s the latest in a string of senseless crimes that have impacted the nation’s ambos. The Herald Sun reported on Monday that a female paramedic in Frankston, Victoria, was punched in the chest by an out-of-control man who was high on drugs and intoxicated.

The man had to be sedated for his own safety and the safety of staff. Just last month, a Melbourne ambulance officer was left with back and face injuries when a patient he was trying to treat became aggressive. 

Read more: Another ambo hospitalised after alleged attack by wedding drunk

What do you think needs to be done to stop this kind of violence on our hard-working ambos?