‘Don’t get me mad – I’ll kill you’ Ambulance call handlers reveal shocking abuse
Emergency service call handlers have revealed the ‘disgusting’ racism and death threats they receive over the phone.
The London Ambulance Service (LAS) have released examples of the chilling death threats faced by 111 responders as they’re assessing patients.
Recent figures show a shocking 54 per cent of 999 call handlers and 48 per cent of their 111 colleagues have suffered from harassment, threats and verbal abuse in the past year.
A quarter of all control room staff have also endured unwanted sexual behaviour from the public.
In one vile 111 call released by the LAS, a caller tells a handler: ‘Don’t get me mad… If I come there I will kill you.’
Emergency call co-ordinator Jude Rodman-Cole revealed how the torrent of abuse can affect call handlers.
He said: ‘I’ve heard all sorts of disgusting abuse in the past few weeks alone.
‘One member of the team was told, “I hope your parents die” around the anniversary of her mother’s death.
‘Women [call handlers] are told they are “a jezebel” or “dumb” and “stupid”, and colleagues with an accent [are] told to ‘go back home’.
‘We understand that potentially a caller is having the worst day of their life.
‘Our staff are trained to deal with that – to bring someone back to a level where we can arrange help. But some of what we have to deal with is completely unacceptable.
‘We see sickness due to stress and anxiety, and abusive calls are definitely a big cause of that.
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‘It’s so frustrating as we are just trying to help people. It affects our ability to help the rest of London. It shouldn’t be like this.’
Lykeisha Brown-Flynn, a 111 health advisor based at Croydon, southeast London, said the abuse is particularly bad when she has to tell patients they don’t need an ambulance.
She added: ‘Recently, a patient was not happy with the outcome of an assessment and became racially abusive.
‘It made me sad that I was trying to help someone who could speak to me in such a derogatory way, especially when I had explained the service is busy at the moment and there was nothing more I could do.
‘We are only trying to help people and do not deserve abuse for simply trying to do our jobs.
‘We are all human and there should be no place for racism in today’s society.’
The LAS has launched a new campaign, called ‘All we want for Christmas is… RESPECT’, encouraging members of the public to be respectful to responders who pick up the phone.
Laurence Cowderoy, deputy director of 999 operations, added: ‘We will not tolerate abuse against our staff.
‘The questions we ask and the details we double-check are essential to ensure callers get the right help as quickly as possible.
‘While we know the vast majority of callers are respectful and appreciate the work we do, we urge everyone to think of the impact of their words.
‘Every minute our call handlers spend dealing with aggression, racism, or death threats is time taken away from patients with life-threatening problems who urgently need our help.’
Though abuse has remained persistent for years, modest declines were seen before a five per cent spike in 2024, which saw the number of LAS staff experiencing abuse and harassment rise to over a third (34 per cent).
Of those reporting abuse, some experienced it repeatedly with one in five facing abuse on more than ten occasions.
The LAS was the first ambulance service in the country to set up a Violence Reduction Unit to support colleagues to report crimes and work closely with police to pursue abusers.
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