Punched, spat on, verbally abused: heinous behaviour that one ambulance crew member has described as occurring too many times to mention. This appalling state of affairs is highlighted in a joint survey conducted by Scotland’s police, fire and ambulance services.

According to their findings, alcohol misuse was a contributory factor in around half of such incidents. One in three emergency workers had suffered physical abuse while attending an incident; two thirds had experienced verbal abuse. Additionally, over a period of just four weeks, two thirds had encountered difficulties in securing urgent information because victims or callers were intoxicated.

That this is a drain on resources goes without saying. That such behaviour is beyond the pale needs saying again and again. What brings a person to this? As so often, alcohol is both cause and excuse. Alcohol: Scotland’s sometime friend and frequent antagonist.

Antagonism to self – to health, marriage and sometimes job – is one thing. Antagonism to others is another, but to heap abuse and worse upon workers who have come to help is especially deplorable. How do we deal with this? Appeal to people’s better nature? Or adopt a stick and bigger stick approach?

The stick would be social disapprobation. It worked with drink-driving. No one likes a drink-driver any more. Not long ago they were tolerated. Now the message must be loud and clear: abusing emergency workers is never acceptable. It isn’t asking much: show some respect. It’s surely the minimum definition of respectable: someone who doesn’t punch an ambulance worker.

The bigger stick would be more effective use of existing protective legislation. The Emergency Workers (Scotland) Act came into force in 2005. Though hundreds are prosecuted under it every year, do others even know of its existence? Are its fines and imprisonment enough? Perhaps it is time for a review – and for a campaign to spread awareness that abuse against emergency workers will not go unpunished.