Carlisle paramedic taken to hospital after laser pen attack

A paramedic was treated in hospital after being targeted with a laser pen while responding to a life-threatening emergency.

The man had the beam shone in his eye while attending a cardiac arrest patient near Carlisle on Friday.

The senior paramedic was left unable to read his tablet screen to update the patient's medical records.

North West Ambulance Service (NWAS) said it took the incident "extremely seriously".

An unknown person shone the green laser pen at the paramedic and his colleague as he was getting out of the ambulance cab, NWAS said.

Unable to turn away in time, the beam went into the paramedic's eye.

Shortly afterwards his eye began to ache and his vision became blurred so he was taken to hospital for assessment.

He was later given the all clear to resume his shift.

NWAS's North Cumbria sector manager Rhonda Stanger said: "It was incredibly dangerous, thankfully the staff member's vision wasn't permanently affected, however, it could have easily been different.

"It could have meant they were unable to help the patient who required emergency care and during the period the paramedic was getting checked out at the hospital, he was unavailable to respond to other people who called 999.

"These types of actions against our staff are completely unacceptable. We've informed the police, and we will always support our staff and push for prosecutions", she added.

Follow BBC North East & Cumbria on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].