Ambulance officers are being abused, threatened and assaulted more frequently.

Recently, a man hijacked a single crewed ambulance.

Despite the best efforts of the Emergency Ambulance Communications Centre (EACC) - it is often impossible to tell which scenes are going to be safe for paramedics from the end of a phone.

Having two officers at incidents with violent offenders or intoxicated bystanders is essential.

One ambulance officer can use their training to defuse or de-escalate the situation while the other can call for assistance or make plans for an exit.

Incidents are sometimes made much worse by the inability of a single paramedic to simultaneously care for and transport a critically unwell patient.

Full crewing also means that there are two ambulance officers to safely lift patients, and to manoeuvre patients on stretchers.

Relying on random members of the public to lift is sometimes risky - people want to help but often attempt to lift beyond their ability.

Sometimes there simply is no member of the public to hand.