One in six ambulance officers has been hurt on the job in the past three years in the upper South Island.
The injuries – to officers in the South Canterbury, Canterbury, West Coast, Marlborough and Nelson regions – included assaults, falls, strains and being accidentally jabbed with needles.
Federation of Ambulance Officer Unions of New Zealand (FAOUNZ) secretary Karl Anderson said he was concerned about violence and abuse towards officers.
"I don't think there is an epidemic, but there have been some serious ones and there is a lot of abuse. There's a certain amount of disrespect for them," he said.
Since 2004, 138 of the 800 officers in the South Island northern region reported injuries that affected their ability to work.
There were no assaults on ambulance officers in the 2004-05 year, but there had been four reported incidents since in which officers were injured.
The St John operations manager for the region, Chris Haines, said the assaults were concerning, but it "did not cause as much grief here as in the North Island".
Last month, Waikato ambulance services faced two incidents in less than a week when they had to "back off" from a job because of safety concerns.
In one case, a man died from stab wounds at Kawhia as ambulance officers could not safely work on him owing to partygoers throwing missiles.
Haines said every care was taken to ensure the safety of ambulance officers.
"If there is any indication that there is a violent situation, our staff are sent to a safe arrival point and police go in first," he said.
Anderson felt the most pressing issue for the ambulance service was ensuring all vehicles were crewed with two people.
