SINGAPORE - There have been 15 reported cases of abuse towards Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers so far in 2023.

The SCDF revealed the figure in a Facebook post on Thursday, while pointing out two separate incidents of abuse.

The first incident took place along Hougang Avenue 3 on Feb 12. A paramedic was attending to a male patient at the void deck when he refused to cooperate and began hurling vulgarities.

He also became violent and slapped the paramedic on his face, while the paramedic tried to calm him down.

The man also kicked the paramedic multiple times before he was arrested by the police.

For using criminal force against public servants, the man was sentenced to 14 weeks’ jail.

Separately, on March 15, a paramedic was assessing a man at Kallang Wave Mall when the latter suddenly turned aggressive and shoved the paramedic against the wall.

He was later arrested by the police, and subsequently sentenced to six weeks’ jail.

“SCDF does not condone any form of physical or verbal abuse against our officers, and will not hesitate to lodge a police report against perpetrators,” said SCDF.

Those convicted can be jailed up to four years, fined or both.

“Every emergency call matters to us, and we will do our utmost in serving you.

“However, physical or verbal harassment hinders our emergency responders from carrying out their duties to the best of their ability,” SCDF added.

There were 30 cases of verbal and physical harassment towards SCDF emergency responders in 2022.

The figure was up from 29 cases in 2021. In 2020, there were 17 cases reported.

A total of 140 such cases have been reported, with an average of about 23 cases per year, from 2016 to 2021, SCDF said in 2022.