Two ambulance workers injured during assault in Wilmington

One ambulance worker was assaulted and another was injured during a struggle with an assailant Monday night in Wilmington's Southbridge neighborhood, said Deputy Chief James R. Jobes, a spokesman for the Fire Department.

Both emergency medical technicians, or EMTs, were treated for non-life-threatening injuries. The assailants remained at large Tuesday.

The incident occurred about 10:50 p.m. as St. Francis Hospital ambulance workers were in front of Wilmington Fire Station 2, at 400 New Castle Ave. As they spoke to one another, three pedestrians approached them, Jobes said.

One of the three pedestrians told the ambulance workers he was having chest pains. Jobes said the EMTs reported the men seemed to be intoxicated, but that couldn't be confirmed.

Ambulance workers began their normal medical protocol, asking questions to determine the severity of the man's chest pains, Jobes said. That's when one of the two workers was punched in the face.

Ambulance workers called for a "1040," which is a distress call for an officer in trouble, Jobes said. One of the other ambulance workers chased the assailants, catching up with one of them and getting into a struggle.

That ambulance worker suffered a hand injury during a fight, Jobes said.

Nothing had changed for EMT personnel on Tuesday except that responders were likely on "heightened alert" until they're sure it was a one-time incident, Jobes said.

Though the attack came seemingly from nowhere, EMT professionals are regularly put into dangerous situations — often by those they'd been sent to help.

"This type of assault is uncommon, but our EMTs do frequently run into combative individuals who are under the influence of drugs or who have certain medical conditions," said Joe Leonetti, senior director of operations for St. Francis Healthcare. "Our EMTs are trained to de-escalate these types of situations. They receive yearly training on management of aggressive behavior."

On every call Laurie Mallow attends as an EMT for Bowers Volunteer Fire Company, she's required to wear a bulletproof vest. If she didn't see the point at first, she said her mind changed in 2014 when she responded to an incident in Slaughter Beach where a man was threatening to burn his house down, kill himself and shoot any emergency personnel who arrived.

"The thing that happened last night, some of us just look at it as an everyday hazard," Mallow said. "Not everybody is happy to see us."

A patient broke her wrists while she tried to treat his diabetic episode, Mallow said, but the true danger to emergency personnel in Delaware is the heroin epidemic. The application of Naloxone, used to counteract the effects of overdose, often makes patients combative, she said.

"Even with the police there, it's still dangerous. My last shift, we had a person who ingested some drug, and he was extremely manic. He was crazy. Four police officers holding him down and our equipment still got damaged," Mallow said. "They want to fight us. We've just taken their high away. We're taking them to the hospital. They see police, and when they see police, they get more aggravated."

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The assailants in Monday's assault fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction. Wilmington police, assisted by New Castle County officers, St. Francis Ambulance workers and Wilmington Fire Department members, conducted a search, but did not find them, Jobes said.

Both ambulance workers involved in the incident were taken to St. Francis Hospital — one with facial injuries, the other with a hand injury.

Anyone with information regarding this incident should contact the Wilmington Fire Marshal's Office at (302) 571-3120.

Contact Esteban Parra at (302) 324-2299, eparra@delawareonline.com or Twitter @eparra3.