A Queen’s University student has been charged by Kingston Police in connection to a Frontenac Paramedic Services paramedic being punched Saturday afternoon.

Sgt. Nadine Legare said the assault occurred at about 1:30 p.m. at a house on Albert Street, where a paramedic crew had been called to assist an extremely intoxicated male. As one of the paramedics went to take the man’s vital statistics, the student swung his arm violently and struck the paramedic in the face, according to Legare. The blow damaged the paramedic’s glasses, but he was uninjured, said Legare.

Police were called to attend immediately. Legare said that when they arrived, three officers were forced to restrain the man as he continued to be belligerent and aggressive. Utterances the man allegedly made included swearing and homophobic slurs, according to Legare.

Once the man calmed slightly, officers assisted paramedics in transporting the man to the hospital’s emergency department, said Legare. Due to staffing restrictions throughout the Homecoming weekend, police decided to follow up with the man at a later date.

Legare reached out to the man on Wednesday and asked him to turn himself in to police, which he did Thursday afternoon.

The 19-year-old from Toronto has been charged with one count of assault. He was released on various conditions and a promise to appear in court on Dec. 5.

Shauna Dunn, president of Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 462 representing Frontenac Paramedics, said the paramedic in question is doing fine, but she’s extremely disappointed and angry with the situation.

“Most of the students that we interact with are respectful and appreciative of our services, but unfortunately, like in all of society, there are a few who choose to behave badly,” Dunn said. “I hope that this incident serves as a warning to everyone that, no matter how drunk or high you might be, you’re still responsible for your actions, and that violence against paramedics will not be tolerated.”

Frontenac Paramedics Chief Gale Chevalier was equally as concerned and angry, calling the incident “just so wrong” and “unacceptable.”

Chevalier said that in terms of safety for local paramedics, they are trained in basic self-defence, verbal de-escalation, and there are alarms on their radios. If a crew experiences violence at a particular address, a note is added to the address so that paramedics do not attend without police present.

“When I heard about it I was very upset,” Chevalier said. “We’ve been in touch with the paramedic involved trying to offer him any support that we can.

“Obviously it’s very concerning to the paramedics to think; they’re out there doing their job and this could happen to them.”

On Friday night Frontenac Paramedics had one extra crew on duty and on Saturday they had three extra. Chevalier echoed Dunn’s point that being drunk is no excuse.

“It makes me angry that people who have made a poor decision about how they’re conducting themselves at that moment, then turn violent towards a paramedic who is trying to help them,” Chevalier said.

“Homecoming is always a challenge for us every year: trying to provide adequate resources to take care of the population that is attending Homecoming and then still keep up with our regular call volume. Then to have something like this happen it’s just really discouraging.”

scrosier@postmedia.com

twitter.com/StephattheWhig