The St John Ambulance paramedics were attending an emergency in Katherine at about 6am on Sunday when the incident happened.  

Leaving the scene, with a patient loaded in the back, an unknown object was thrown into the side of the ambulance, smashing part of the window and covering the inside with glass.

In the middle of last year St John Ambulance NT launched the ‘Hands Off!’ campaign to reduce violence against paramedics and raise public support of safe work environments. 

On average one in six Territorians uses an ambulance every year, with St John transporting over 38,000 patients and attending more than 52,000 cases across the NT last year alone. 

“It is very disappointing and sad that these things happen,” St John NT CEO Judith Barker said. 

“For us it means one of the ambulances that allows us to respond to medical and trauma emergencies within Katherine and surrounding areas will be offline.

“While we have contingencies in place to ensure our response to the community, its also very distressing for our paramedics considering they are there to save lives and help the community and just want to do their job safely.

“If you are somewhere with your mates and one of them is up to something that is not right, please stand up and protect those who are here to help.”

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