Swedish Ambulance Companies Call for Protection in ‘No Go Zones’

From RT:

The president of Sweden's ambulance union has called for enhanced security for his personnel when working in so-called “no-go zones,” saying first responders need “special” military-grade equipment to withstand the dangers of the primarily migrant-populated areas. 

Despite “dangerous situations” being nothing of extraordinary for ambulance workers, there are now areas in Sweden where even they “don’t want to be in,” head of the Swedish Ambulance Association ALARM, Gordon Grattidge told Swedish DGS TV. 

“It's too dangerous to enter” areas in Sweden where “majority of the people are immigrants,” Grattidge said in an interview with a Swedish journalist, published earlier this week. 

Citing his association workers’ “own experience,” as well as “reports from other parties,” the ambulance union chief said the escalation of violence in such areas “definitely” poses a growing threat to medical staff. 

“We can be prevented from entering, we may be blocked from getting out. Our vehicles can be attacked, and we personally can be exposed to physical violence,” he said. 

Saying that “areas with large groups of violent people” have become a “constant concern” for Swedish ambulance workers, Grattidge claimed attacks from such groups “of up to 30 people” happen “about once a week,” forcing medical staff “to retreat and wait for the police.” 

These groups do not just throw stones, he said, warning that “hand grenades have been thrown at police.” Since 2015 Sweden has indeed seen a sharp increase in grenade attacks and incidents, commonly attributed to gang wars.