A 32-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly stabbing an on-duty paramedic in Melbourne’s north on Thursday.

The incident occurred just after 11am outside a café on Broadway in Reservoir. Police allege that the man stopped and exited his car outside the café before stabbing the paramedic.

The paramedic was taken to hospital with serious but non-life-threatening stab wounds to his neck and face.

The suspect fled the scene after a bystander helped to pull him off the paramedic. He was arrested at a home in Winter Crescent just after 1pm on Thursday.

Ambulance Victoria chief executive Jordan Emery praised the bystander that helped.

“On behalf of our members, we extend our sincere gratitude and thanks to that bystander,” he said.

Emery added that he was disgusted by the continued pattern of violence directed towards first responders, saying it must stop now.

“No paramedic or first responder should ever come to work and be assaulted. I am sickened to my stomach,” he said.

“We need to spend time in our communities reflecting on how we have come to a place where more than 1,000 paramedics are assaulted every single year in Victoria.”

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said her thoughts are with the paramedic and that the state government will look to reform emergency worker harm laws.

“Victims and union representatives have raised the issue of loopholes in the law, potentially undermining the protections emergency workers deserve,” she said.

Allan said her government are committed to fixing this issue to ensure the safety of first responders.

“We will ask the Victorian Law Reform Commission to review the definition of ‘on duty’ and ensure there are no loopholes.”

The attacker will appear before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday.

Photo: Ambulance, St. Peter’s Anglican Church. Sturt Street. Ballarat by Ed Dunens is available HERE and used under a Creative Commons Licence. This image has been cropped.