Assaults on paramedics have become so common in the Northern Territory that incidents are often going unreported and urgent patient care is being delayed due to severe safety concerns.

Key points: Despite new legislation that introduced further penalties for assaulting health workers, frontline staff in the NT have said assaults and abuse has been increasing

Despite new legislation that introduced further penalties for assaulting health workers, frontline staff in the NT have said assaults and abuse has been increasing There was a spike in physical assaults of paramedics during the December holiday period

There was a spike in physical assaults of paramedics during the December holiday period During 2019 there were 50 reported attacks on paramedics in the NT but a St Johns Ambulance NT director has said that figure is underreported

There were 50 reported cases of assault on St Johns Ambulance NT paramedics during 2019 but that figure would be significantly higher if every attack was recorded, according to ambulance services director Andrew Thomas.

"It's becoming almost a culture within paramedics that it [is] almost seen as being accepted," Mr Thomas explained.

"Across the Northern Territory we had a number of assaults where our paramedics received physical blows to the face and the head, some of them have been when their back was turned, and we've all seen the information around one-punch hits.

"We've had people spat on, people threatened with objects … rocks thrown at vehicles while they are driving.

"It is probably fortunate that over 2019 we haven't seen anyone more seriously injured."

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 41 seconds 1 m 41 s Paramedics discuss what has happened to them on jobs.

Of the 50 reported assaults in 2019, 34 were physical and resulted in multiple staff requiring medical treatment and having to take time off work.

Mr Thomas said the issue was not unique to the NT and was prevalent across Australia's ambulance services, despite multiple public campaigns to reduce the violence.

"Unfortunately, we are seeing a rise in violence and aggression towards not just ambulance staff but other health professionals as well," he said.

"There is a lot of work to be done to look at what is the cause but clearly drugs and alcohol are a precipitating factor."

Mr Thomas said the number and frequency of assaults had taken a significant toll on staff and, at times, delayed the urgent medical treatment of patients.

"We're probably now starting to see some of the psychological impacts on staff," he said.

There have been multiple campaigns across the country to try and curb the rate of assaults against paramedics. ( ABC News )

"They might not feel as comfortable to respond at night-time or certain types of cases might bring back some sort of memory.

"Trying to keep an eye in the back of your head, takes one eye off the patient.

"We've told people before, for their own safety, to pull back and wait for police to come and support them."

Being spat on 'extremely difficult'

Following a spate of physical assaults on St Johns Ambulance NT workers during the December holiday period, paramedics across the Territory have issued a plea to the public to try and stem the torrent of abuse.

Paramedic Amy McCaffrey has been physically assaulted twice but said verbal assaults are far more frequent. ( ABC News: Mitchell Abram )

For Alice Springs paramedic Amy McCaffrey, being punched on two separate occasions during her graduate year was not as traumatic as some of the other incidents her colleagues have been through.

"Some of my colleagues can't even talk about some of those events. That's how greatly they have impacted them," said Ms McCaffrey.

"For me personally, being spat at is extremely difficult for me to deal with. Mentally, that has the biggest effect on me.

"But we are often spat at, sworn at, yelled at. It's actually more than just the physical [assaults] that takes a toll on our mental health."

Abuse so frequent first responders have become desensitised

Ms McCaffrey agreed many assaults remained unreported.

"There is absolutely no excuse for abuse but, because we are subject to it so often, we become really desensitised to it and we often don't report it," she said.

"What is really sad about all these incidents, is that we are just here to help and it takes away from what we really got into the job to do."

Several paramedics have had to receive medical treatment and take time off work after being assaulted on the job. ( ABC News )

Paramedics forced to flee scenes due to violence

Steve Schrieke was working in Darwin and trying to help a patient into an ambulance when he received a blow to the side of his head last month.

"We were told we had a patient that had taken his own leave from the hospital and needed to be returned, that's the only information that we got in our dispatch over the radio," he said.

"There was large group of people, all drinking, they were waving us down so we knew we had reached the right location."

Mr Schrieke was lowering the vehicle's steps to help the patient get into the ambulance when he was punched in the face.

Despite being assaulted at work, paramedic Steve Schrieke said he still loves his job. ( ABC News: Chelsea Heaney )

"I actually said to my colleague, 'we had better watch our backs here' when we arrived. Because we could see people were intoxicated. But I had deemed it safe, we had a good way to get out," he said.

"The person that I had deemed not a risk was the person who actually struck me to the head."

Since that day, Mr Schrieke said he had become a lot more wary at work.

"It has made me more skittish," he said.

"We want to build a rapport quickly with people but if you are ready to jump away at any stage then it will take longer and we don't have a lot of time in our job to understand what their problem is or where their pain is and how we can help them."

Paramedics ask the public to support them in helping people. ( ABC News: James Purtill )

'Back off and let us do our job'

Mr Schrieke said verbal abuse was almost "a weekly occurrence".

"There have been incidences where people have had to flee scenes or get out quickly just because there is a lot going on or the police haven't arrived yet and they feel threatened."

But none of this has changed how Mr Schrieke feels about his job, which he said he still loved.

"It is vulnerable people in difficult situations and I don't think, for my colleagues and myself, that it will stop us from doing our jobs," Mr Schrieke said.

Mr Thomas said health professionals just needed space and a safe environment to work in.

"We get that scenes get emotive but back off and let us do our job," he said.

"Support us. If the scene is getting escalated or people are around the place, someone just grabbing them and walking them away and letting us do our job so that we can get in and get out is in the best interest of the patient and our staff."

Paramedics say they just need space a safe environment to work in. ( ABC News )

The NT Government introduced harsher penalties under the criminal code in 2019 for those who assault health workers.

The amendments introduced now apply the same penalties to those who have assaulted paramedics as those who have assaulted police.

The NT Government has not responded to questions regarding how many people have been prosecuted under these new laws since they were introduced.