In the early hours of Friday 30 June four ambulances parked outside of Gorse Hill ambulance station were thoughtlessly damaged. Windows were smashed and vital lifesaving equipment was stolen. This not only puts lives at risk but the cost of repairs and replacement equipment will cost the service and tax payers is estimated £85,000. The Lifepaks, manually operated defibrillators and diagnostic machines, have been targeted and stolen.
Mark Gregory, Paramedic and General Manager for Leicestershire said: “This reckless act means four ambulances requires major repair works and can’t respond to emergencies. Whoever did this clearly didn’t think of the impact that their actions would have on their community.
“Further to this, the loss and replacement of four lifesaving defibrillators will divert valuable funds from front line resource.
“We have a zero tolerance approach and will work with Leicestershire Police to take action and make sure that whoever did this receives the appropriate punishment.”
While every effort has been made to repair and re-stock vehicles as soon as possible, the incidents have an obvious impact on our ability to respond to patients.
Leicester Police enquires are in their early stages and if anyone saw anything suspicious in the area or knows who could be responsible please call on 101 and quote incident 91 of 30 June.