A paramedic has been taken to hospital with back and facial injuries after he was attacked by a patient.

The shocking incident happened at Epping in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Ambulance Victoria confirmed the news, saying they were called to a residential address about 12.40am to respond to a man in his 20s who was reportedly unconscious after drinking an excessive amount of alcohol.

On attempting to rouse the patient, he woke and became verbally aggressive and abusive towards the crew, spitting at them.

Paramedics continued to treat the man and gave him some sedation.

However, as they wheeled him on a stretcher to the ambulance, the patient lunged at one of the paramedics, punching him in the face.

This caused the stretcher to tip, and the paramedic grabbed the stretcher to stop it from falling resulting in the paramedic taking the full weight of the stretcher and the patient in his outstretched arms.

The crew transported the patient to hospital, where the assaulted paramedic experienced severe back pain. He was treated, before being admitted to hospital for pain management and further assessment.

The news comes following mass outrage at a sentence given to two women who bashed a paramedic.