A Mandurah ambulance crew has been stood down for refusing to attend an incident at the city's eastern foreshore because police weren't at the scene to protect them
The incident, which happened earlier this year, is understood to have involved a police call for ambulance assistance for a person believed to be intoxicated and aggressive.
It's alleged the paramedics arrived before police, judged the situation to be too dangerous to tackle alone, and waited for the officers to arrive.
St John Ambulance is understood to have stood down the paramedics pending an internal investigation.
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United Voice, the union representing the paramedics, recommends to its members to not attend jobs which they believe are unsafe, or to wait until police are present.
However, St John Ambulance general manager James Sherriff denied there was an issue with the Mandurah crew's safety.
"The safety of our ambulance crews is of the utmost importance to us and we deny there were any safety risks posed to the crew and that crews were stood down for the reasons alleged," he said.
"A second crew was sent to attend the patient and there were no issues with safety.
"St John never puts crews at risk and we strongly deny the allegation that safety concerns were the reason why the ambulance crew refused to attend this particular job.
"We are currently involved in a process with this crew and are unable to comment further."
A spokesman for United Voice, the paramedics' union, declined to comment.