A social media campaign to cut violence and aggression towards ambulance officers and paramedics in South Australia may have halved the problem in just two months.
Reports of incidents have fallen 45 per cent over the past two months compared to the same period last year, Health Minister Jack Snelling says.
"I am cautiously optimistic that these early numbers reflect an increased respect for our ambulance officers and paramedics who carry out extremely important work," Mr Snelling said on Saturday.
The campaign is part of a broader strategy that will focus on reducing unacceptable behaviour towards health care workers in other high-risk environments such as hospital emergency departments and drug and alcohol services.
SA Ambulance Service acting chief executive Steve Cameron said the fall in the number of incidents in the past two months followed a steady increase over recent years.
"We often have to deal with anxious, intoxicated or deliberately confrontational members of the public, who at times resort to unacceptable behaviour such as spitting, verbal abuse, threats and physical assault," Mr Cameron said.
The campaign features videos which can be accessed online and urge everyone to treat ambulance workers with respect.
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