999 crews to use stab-proof vests

Ambulance crews across Shropshire and the West Midlands are to trial the use of stab-proof vests.

The move was agreed yesterday by service bosses and follows a risk assessment and review of health and safety regulations.

A report to the West Midlands Ambulance Service Trust board showed there were 121 physical assaults on staff between April 2007 and last month, of which four involved the use of a weapon.

The weapons used were a false leg, rucksack, kettle and TV remote.

But the report also revealed the first details of a frightening incident faced by a crew in Birmingham last year.

It was classed as a "non-physical assault" involving a weapon.

The crew was sent to a block of flats where a female had been assaulted.When the crew went into the lift, a hooded youth approached the doors and produced what was believed to be a firearm and demanded drugs.

The crew managed to shut the lift doors and eventually gained entrance to the patient's flat. The firearm had been pointed at their heads and not at their torsos.

Diane Lee, director of corporate services, said a survey of operational staff had shown 475 in favour of wearing stab vests and 201 against. Most of those who had responded to the exercise were based in Birmingham and the Black Country.

Derek Laird, locality director for Herefordshire, Shropshire and Worcestershire, said the majority of staff in the areas didn't feel there was a need for protective clothing.

Peter Murtagh, locality manager for Staffordshire, said there wasn't a consistent view across the West Midlands region on whether stab vests should be worn. The trust's chief executive, Anthony Marsh, said it was important that staff felt supported and valued, and suggested that a two-month trial of vests of the "latest technology" be organised.

The vests will be used by selected staff, in both the shire counties and inner city areas.

It is not known when the trial will begin but the board has called for a report in six months' time.

The vests have to be made to individual specifications and the cost of eventually equipping all crews with them could be about £840,000.

l More than 370 patients taken by ambulance to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital last month had their handover delayed by between 30 and 60 minutes, new figures have revealed.

Nineteen had to wait between one and two hours, and three more than two hours.

At the Royal Shrewsbury, 191 patients faced a handover wait of 30 to 60 minutes, with 10 waiting between one and two hours, and three longer than two hours, show the figures presented to the trust board.

Ambulances are expected to complete a hospital "turnaround" in about 15 minutes but face delays when A&E departments are running at full capacity.