The paramedics union has condemned the actions of dozens of men who allegedly attacked paramedics who were trying to save a man in Sydney who did not survive. Paramedics were called to a unit block on Iris Avenue, Riverwood, in Sydney’s west, about 8am on Sunday for a 25-year-old man suffering a suspected drug overdose. Family members of the dying man became irate and tried to intervene, the Australian Paramedics Association said in a statement. Up to 80 angry men quickly gathered at the unit and allegedly threatened the health workers and charged at a female paramedic, injuring her shoulder. ‘Paramedics were forced to fend off angry males who eventually forced them to stop treating the patient who was in cardiac arrest and subsequently died,’ APA secretary Steve Pearce said. The paramedics barricaded themselves inside the unit as the violent mob demanded a defibrillator and drugs, believing they could treat the young man themselves, Mr Pearce added. About 20 police including officers from the Police Rescue squad arrived at the scene to save the five paramedics. But the patient had died.
