Scissor attack in Gelsenkirchen: paramedics are attacked!

Scissor attack in Gelsenkirchen: paramedics are attacked!

On Monday, March 24, 2025, there was a terrifying incident in Gelsenkirchen, on Wanner Strasse, when an ambulance was traveling to a bus stop to help a person in need. Suddenly the rescue team was threatened by a 41-year-old Gelsenkirchener with scissors. The man screamed aggressively and prompted the paramedics to withdraw into the car and alert the police. This could finally captivate the attacker and found the scissors he carried in his pocket. It turned out that the man was apparently strongly alcoholized and had to give a blood test at the police station. Fortunately, nobody was injured in this assignment. The police ensured the scissors to avoid further dangers, so Radio Emscher Lippe .

Violence against rescue workers is a social problem that has become more and more in focus in recent years. The incident in Gelsenkirchen is not the first of this kind. On November 18, 2024, federal police at Gelsenkirchen had to provide first aid at a strongly alcoholic passerby. In this case too, it was the use of rescue workers that was endangered by the behavior of an alcoholic man. The 42-year-old Polish citizen, who was found on site, had a breath alcohol test of over three per thousand. It was brought to the Federal Police Guard for identity and then to a hospital, but no medical examination could be carried out at this time, since the ambulance could not act, as Presseportal

background to violence against emergency services

The association "Helpers are taboo" has been committed to the interests of employees in the emergency services, the police and the fire brigade for five years. The focus is on the prevention of attacks on these emergency services. A study initiated by the association shows terrifying knowledge about violence against emergency services. In the study, over 360,000 rescue operations in Rheinhessen were evaluated between 2019 and 2022. 76 incidents were registered, including bodily harm and insults. In 2021, compared to the police crime statistics, which took 114 acts of violence in the region, the study only recorded 16 cases. This shows that attacks on rescue workers are not a mass phenomenon, but still have to be taken seriously. Interior Minister Michael Ebling emphasized the social appreciation for the emergency services and the need to consistently pursue such assaults, according to the analysis of the association DRK Rhine-close .

The challenge that is related to violence against emergency services urgently requires measures to prevent and protect those who are in the service of society. In view of the incidents in Gelsenkirchen, it becomes clear that both the public and the responsible institutions are required here to create a safe environment for the helpers.