Published Sunday, 12 February 2012
The male and female staff members were responding to an emergency in the Fountain Estate area in the early hours of Saturday, where a man had collapsed.
As they approached the patient they noticed two men armed with steel bars running towards them, shouting threatening abuse.
The crew identified themselves as ambulance staff to try and diffuse the situation however the pair continued to approach.
Fearing for their own safety the crew had to run back to their vehicle, where they phoned the police.
When officers arrived the patient was taken to Antrim Area Hospital for treatment for abdominal pain.
A statement from the NI Ambulance Service said: "While NIAS does not believe that the crew were targeted in a premeditated manner, we find it totally unacceptable that ambulance staff should be placed in a position where they have to run, from a patient needing help, to the relative safety of their vehicle in order to maintain their own safety."