Ambulance doctors in Siberia have been issued electroshock weapons following a recent attack by a patient, the local administration said on Tuesday.
A total of 123 stun guns have been provided to paramedics in the cities of Prokopyevsk and Novokuznetsk.
Authorities in the Siberian region of Kemerovo allocated money to buy 500 stun guns for ambulance medics in response to a September incident in which a patient in an ambulance used a non-lethal firearm to pistol-whip a paramedic.
The man, who also broke windows in the vehicle, later confessed he attacked out of hatred for the medical profession.
A spokesman for the Kemerovo administration earlier said electric shockers are the first step in an effort to provide security to ambulance doctors.
“Doctors will have electric shockers for self-defense until a bill is passed allowing them to carry non-lethal firearms,” he said.