Angry men threaten Melbourne paramedics - Courier Mail

AN angry mob has hurled threats at two paramedics in Melbourne for reaching a scene 45 minutes late.

The ambulance officers were forced to flee in their ambulance, hitting an enraged resident in the process.

The pair had arrived to a help an injured woman in Melbourne's north when they were threatened by the group of men just before 1am (AEST) on Monday.

The men were angry it had taken 45 minutes for an ambulance to respond to the non-life threatening case.

Police say the paramedics set off a duress alarm and drove off, but ended up hitting one of the men in the process.

Ambulance Victoria chief executive Greg Sassella said two previous ambulances had been dispatched to treat a woman but were diverted to more urgent patients, adding to the delay.

The woman missed out on immediate treatment for an injured elbow because of the threats and intimidation, he said, after a vehicle containing more angry men rolled up at the scene.

"From the paramedics point of view, there was no misunderstanding in their mind - they felt threatened," Mr Sassella told reporters.

"It was verbal abuse and there were a number of people at the scene."

He said there were conflicting stories about how one of the men came into contact with the departing ambulance and it would be up to police to sort it out.

Mr Sassella commended the paramedics - a woman in her first month of road duties and her instructor - for their handling of the tense situation.

"He protected her, and then he tried to deal with the crowd and when that failed, he activated his duress alarm."

The paramedics returned later to the Roxburgh Park house with police and took the woman to hospital with minor injuries.

A 24-year-old man was also taken to hospital for observation.

Mr Sassella said violence towards paramedics is inexcusable.

But in the past year, reports of paramedics receiving real or perceived threats had slightly fallen over previous years.

"We're putting a lot of effort into training our paramedics and to ensure if they feel threatened they leave the scene," he said.