It has been law in Scotland for a year, and - believe me - it REALLY gets enforced. Do to an emergency worker what would earn you 50hrs Community Service if you did it to anyone else, and I can assure you that our Sheriff will put you in the chokey for 3 months. One of our nuisances got 150hrs just for swearing at my partner, and was warned by the Sheriff that any repetition would guarantee her a custodial sentence. A nyaff who sprawled himself across the bonnet of an ambulance, stopping it moving off, got 4 months.