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Victoria is facing a public-safety crisis

Call For Service

What did/do you guys call them out there?

Out here, we just called them "calls". :)

We assisted them in five point restraining this person to the bed then watched as they put him in a k-hole.

It wasn't in my scope of practice. But, our ACPs use it.

Got to be careful with with that stuff pre-hospital field. I was reading about two paramedics in Colorado indicted for manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide over it.

There was a Civil Rights lawsuit, with the City of Aurora taxpayers paying $15 million to the family.

A clue is when the ambulance arrives and they address the patient on a first name basis.

I'm thinking of the pensioners and shut-ins. For some, 9-1-1 is their only connection with anybody. Or, their families may call 9-1-1 for wellness checks.

I don't know about Victoria, but my former department offers a "frequent flyer" program,
 
I wish someone had been there to find my brother in law in time when he overdosed in Vancouver at the age of 23.

He wasn’t a write off. He had fallen hard but was making some progress, and the family was trying to reconcile some long and ugly stuff. His descent into drug use came in the wake of circumstances anyone would struggle to make it through.

Let’s not forget there are real people at the centre of this. Sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers… they leave real people behind and hurting when they die.
 
I wish someone had been there to find my brother in law in time when he overdosed in Vancouver at the age of 23.

He wasn’t a write off. He had fallen hard but was making some progress, and the family was trying to reconcile some long and ugly stuff. His descent into drug use came in the wake of circumstances anyone would struggle to make it through.

Let’s not forget there are real people at the centre of this. Sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers… they leave real people behind and hurting when they die.
Solid reminder of the human factor, something I tend to forget when I read stories of people being attacked or businesses being broken into, by 'those homeless addicts'...

I am sincerely sorry Bri, I was probably a tad bit ignorant & harsh when I painted with a broad brush.

_________


(Just to clarify, I'm actually not advocating EMS not responding to someone OD'ing.

I'm suggesting that given some individuals' apparent quest to OD (who OD on a regular basis) we should not have EMS resources unavailable for people who need real help periodically, but who aren't OD'ing on a daily or weekly basis.

(If my mom needed an ambulance because she had chest pains, and couldn't get an ambulance because they were busy with various people who OD on a regular basis...I'd be ticked to say the least. As we all would be, I imagine...

That's why I'm asking the bigger question, the one I feel has no real clean answers, of "Where do we, as a society, draw the line?")
 
Where do we, as a society, draw the line?")

People love this system of “free” healthcare, even though it’s on the brink of collapse. No politician will make the call of triaging contributing members of society who pay taxes first, over addicts. Everyone is worth saving, but you need to look at it realistically with the limited resources you have. We don’t have the resources and I can’t see that changing in the short or long term with an aging population, while the younger generation just wants to live off free government assistance.
 
Everyone is worth saving, but some people are worth saving more than others. The "system" doesn't work without funding, and some people are much greater producers than others. Keeping them healthy keeps the "system" healthy.
 
I'm suggesting that given some individuals' apparent quest to OD (who OD on a regular basis) we should not have EMS resources unavailable for people who need real help periodically, but who aren't OD'ing on a daily or weekly basis.

I don't know how busy they are out of town, my former department receives over 300,000 "CFS" a year.

( That doesn't include calls to police and fire. )

Call Receivers can hardly ask, "Are you a skell?"
 
Everyone is worth saving, but some people are worth saving more than others. The "system" doesn't work without funding, and some people are much greater producers than others. Keeping them healthy keeps the "system" healthy.
I’m tired of funding a system that prioritizes care to addicts and those who decide to live disconnected from society. There isn’t enough money and socialism in the country to help them.
 
and then use them to make crackers, it's the best way to be green

Soylent Green Quote GIF by Top 100 Movie Quotes of All Time
 

Sorry... I like that movie a little too much.

Eddy G. never made a bad movie.

I’m tired of funding a system that prioritizes care to addicts and those who decide to live disconnected from society.

Worth mentioning that they are seldom the call originator. More likely to be a concerned citizen who doesn't even know them.

Toronto taxpayers had to cough up $10 million to the family of a deceased, not for refusing service. But, for simply delaying service.

The inquest had previously been told that the 911 dispatcher who took the initial call had reported to the paramedic crew that xxxxx “had been drinking,” when the caller actually said he’d fallen over and “it looks like he might be drunk.”
 
Sauve qui Peut!!

Victoria businesses consider moving amid spiralling random violence​


Many store owners and staffs are used to almost daily incidents. Some have pepper spray for protection.


web1_vka-homeless-0437
Ryan Burghardt, owner of Budget Brake and Muffler, shows where a fence around his yard had been cut. Ryan Burghardt was recently charged by a man brandishing scissors and a handful of his own feces.

It wasn’t the first time the owner of Budget Brake and Muffler, at Douglas and Bay streets, has had to ward off attacks and threats or absorb the costs of ongoing thefts and vandalism by an unsheltered population in the downtown core, many of them suffering from drug addiction and severe mental-health issues. And it isn’t going to be the last, Burghardt said.

“It happens all the time around here,” he said.

Vehicles have been damaged, staff have been put in danger and items have been stolen, including a cellphone off the front counter.

“You just wonder if it’s ever going to end,” Burghardt said. “Moving my business out of the downtown core is a weekly thought. Langford is an option, but it’s pretty hard to uproot a 40-year-old business. I already commute from Mill Bay because I’ve moved my family to a safer place to live.”

Burghardt’s nine staff are used to the almost daily incidents. Some have pepper spray for protection.

A block away on Government Street, David Screech of Gregg’s Furniture is considering moving his business; it has been there for 55 years.

 
Sauve qui Peut!!

Victoria businesses consider moving amid spiralling random violence​


Many store owners and staffs are used to almost daily incidents. Some have pepper spray for protection.


web1_vka-homeless-0437
Ryan Burghardt, owner of Budget Brake and Muffler, shows where a fence around his yard had been cut. Ryan Burghardt was recently charged by a man brandishing scissors and a handful of his own feces.

It wasn’t the first time the owner of Budget Brake and Muffler, at Douglas and Bay streets, has had to ward off attacks and threats or absorb the costs of ongoing thefts and vandalism by an unsheltered population in the downtown core, many of them suffering from drug addiction and severe mental-health issues. And it isn’t going to be the last, Burghardt said.

“It happens all the time around here,” he said.

Vehicles have been damaged, staff have been put in danger and items have been stolen, including a cellphone off the front counter.

“You just wonder if it’s ever going to end,” Burghardt said. “Moving my business out of the downtown core is a weekly thought. Langford is an option, but it’s pretty hard to uproot a 40-year-old business. I already commute from Mill Bay because I’ve moved my family to a safer place to live.”

Burghardt’s nine staff are used to the almost daily incidents. Some have pepper spray for protection.

A block away on Government Street, David Screech of Gregg’s Furniture is considering moving his business; it has been there for 55 years.


Looks like a DND sign in the background.
 
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