Absolutely I would agree with that. I don't think the public has a good understanding of the dangers of our jobs. As I quoted at the start, the number of injuries we're seeing is phenomenal.
I operate a small ambulance service here in Ontario. It's not very big. It's in Peterborough. It's just a couple of hours away from here, a small rural area in cottage country. In the past two years, two paramedics were sexually assaulted and one paramedic had a knife reportedly drawn on them, all resulting in cases that are in the courts right now. People don't understand how dangerous the job can be, just as it can be in other health care professions.
One issue we have is that we are two people who are quite often out by ourselves, with no security and no one else to respond. Especially in rural Ontario, where it can be many minutes before we have police who can arrive at the scene, it's very difficult. Our legislation mandates that we must actually see a dangerous scene and confirm it to be a dangerous scene before we can legally stage and not go into that scene. It places paramedics in danger intentionally to confirm that the danger exists. These things need to change. We need to review not just the public's opinion but our governments' view of this as well.