In our community there are people who are charged with looking after us in our greatest times of need.

People like police officers, paramedics and health workers just to name a few.

On Wednesday, the Illawarra Mercury broke the exclusive about a female paramedic being punched in the face while helping an injured man in Wollongong's CBD.

The paramedics had gone to attend to a man who has crashed his mobility scooter.

It's alleged that when the female paramedics attended to the 53-year-old male, he struck one of them and abused them both.

This incident in isolation is horrifying enough, but when you combine it with the fact it is the fourth assault on an Illawarra paramedic this year it is downright staggering.

What have we become as a society when we attack those helping you?

Health Services Union NSW secretary Gerard Hayes said paramedics were risking their health and safety every day.

"They do not deserve to be treated like punching bags ... yet these incidents are occurring on a regular basis across the state," he told the Illawarra Mercury.

The union has called for a trial of "paramedic-activated body cameras" as a way of potentially curbing the issue.

It is something which needs to be given serious consideration by the NSW Government.

We need to take deliberate steps to stamp out these behaviors and if body cameras are away of deterring this behaviour then let's go for it.

Ultimately though, we must also continue to rally against this behaviour as a community.

We must reinforce the message that abusing or physically assaulting those who are charged with helping us is completely unacceptable.

Police, parademics and health workers deserve our utmost respect and total protection.

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