THE unpredictable violence of ice users is becoming part of the job for south-west paramedics.

Ambulance Victoria has established an occupational violence working group to review the aggression and assault response training paramedics receive, as well as policies and procedures.

Paramedic and Port Fairy team manager Peter McCormick said one of the reasons the review had been initiated was in response to the surge of ice-related cases.

Mr McCormick works across the south-west and began his career in Melbourne, when heroin was rife.

He said ice was a “volatile, unpredictable drug”. 

“Often we are confronted with scenes that can have the potential to turn aggressive and violent quite quickly.

“Fortunately I don’t know of any assaults in our region related to ice, but the potential is there.”

Mr McCormick said a patient who had used ice could go from relaxed to violent within 30 seconds, which created safety concerns for paramedics.

“We go to work and want to be safe,” he said.

“You don’t expect to be in a situation where you are thinking, ‘Am I going to be assaulted here’, because of the effects of ice on the user. It’s a stimulant and (users) can get quite agitated very quickly and things can escalate into aggression. Our experience has been that they are unpredictable.”

Paramedics use a range of strategies, including de-escalation techniques and sedation, to manage patients affected by the drug.

“The goal is to care for the patient and our priority is to make sure they are safe,” Mr McCormick said.

“We also have to consider our own safety. The statistics show there has been an increase over the past couple of years in ambulance attendances for ice users. 

“Overall, though, to put it into perspective, alcohol is still our number one drug issue that we come across.”