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Citizen complaint of the day: Citizens shouldn't have to figure out if a body in a bag is alive
By adamg on Sun, 08/04/2013 - 11:33pm
A creeped-out citizen complains about this sight yesterday in the Fens:
Fenway garden, Man in red sleeping bag - passed out or dead? 911 called an hour ago, commissioner Ed Davis: listening?
The city replies today:
Case Noted. Emergency shelter commission will notify the pine street inn outreach van about this location. will also speak to mayor's hotline and boston ems about crm protocols and ways to ensure a more rapid response, as concerned citizens should continue to call 9-1-1 and ask for boston ems whenever concerned about the wellbeing of homeless or other vulnerable persons "found down".
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Comments
I don't understand
This person is complaining because they are inconvenienced? Did they miss the part where this guy is homeless? He just supposed to stay awake indefinitely?
And who dumps bodies in sleeping bags in the middle of the park?
Jason has been known to do
Jason has been known to do so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ5YPlcCzYA
nice try
No, they're "complaining" because they called 911 to report a possible dead body and after an hour, no EMTs had arrived to follow-up. Maybe he looked like he wasn't breathing, maybe he had some blood on his face....we don't know, neither of us were there, so don't make assumptions that the caller called 911 just because they saw a homeless person out in public.
So what was stopping this
So what was stopping this do-gooder from taking action to render aid? Are we really that helpless, that only the authorized special people can check and see if a person is in distress?
Found Down?
Is a person resting in a sleeping bag really what is meant by "found down"? The cops have more important things to do than checking out every case of someone sleeping in public. Unless there are signs of a real problem, MYOB.
Simple answer to "person down."
Go over to him, look at him, if you have concerns, give his shoulder a shake and ask, "are you OK?"
We the taxpayers don't really need a $900 ambulance run for every sleeping person on the street or in the park.
Bravo!
This is a massive waste of public resources (police, fire, and ems) because someone is simply too lazy to go over and ask this person, "hey, are you okay?" If you're as concerned as you say you are about this person offer them a shower, a clean change of clothes, and a home cooked meal. But really we know, you just don't like having to look at less fortunate people.
Please let us know the next
Please let us know the next time you actually take time out of your day to do such a selfless humanitarian act and not just tell other people to do so.
Right
That would be nice, but unfortunately most of the uhub resident world saviors/jesus christs/caped social justice crusaders don't go far beyond littering their (usually affluent and white) neighborhoods with moronic leaflets and stickers when it comes to doing something offline. That, and trashing a public greenspace while drinking PBR in their $500 tents, bragging about their $3000 NJS-stamped fixies.
Yeah, let's go camp out on the Greenway, rawr!
Um, what? Where are these public greenspaces in Boston where Godless heathen yuppie blow-ins are camping out in their expensive tents, the ones they hauled in with their fixies? Because that's the kind of public space I'd like to camp out in.
I have walked past the
I have walked past the occutard camp quite a few times on my way to South Station, and I've seen more Arc'Teryx logos (very expensive outdoor brand, for those not familiar) there than on the slopes of a swanky ski resort. Saw quite a few fancy Japanese-framed fixies as well (we're talking Kalavinka and 3rensho here, not Shogun or Panasonic.) Same crowd that won't be caught dead in Roxbury because daddy said it's scary, but are totally willing to vandalize Coolidge Corner and Harvard Square with their stickers.
"I have walked past"?
Maybe if you actually did, you'd realize they tore that place down months ago.
Years ago, Mr Gramer Nazi. I
Years ago, Mr Gramer Nazi. I was simply drawing a parallel between the current crop of uhub justice crusaders and occutards from back in the days - lots of yapping, but not much action.
OK, then, another thing
A lot of those tents were donated; not everybody there was well off.
Who is Gramer?
and what was his role in this story?
Besides the fact that you're
Besides the fact that you're exaggerating, why shouldn't people who can afford nice clothing be allowed to protest?
Tents on the Greenway? Sounds like you visited during Figment
which was July 27-28.
I did it last Wednesday
in the little park by the Chinatown gate. There was a guy down, although he had a beer in a brown paper bag on his table beside his half-eaten sandwich, he didn't quite seem like a typical street drunk; neither I nor a couple of old Chinese guys who had been playing chess nearby could rouse him in spite of vigorous efforts to do so; we called an ambulance.
Last time before that was probably 2 months ago, on Cambridge street. Any other questions?
Simple until the vagrant
Simple until the vagrant startles awake and stabs the person inquiring.
It's illegal to camp in parks for very good sanitation reasons. The city should be doing more to get these people into shelters and treatment centers.
Damned if you do, damned if
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. If you insist on the city going around collecting vagrants for treatment or shelter, you are accused of warehousing, attempting to hide the problem of homelessness and a violator of civil rights. If you do nothing, you could be accused of callousness and insensitivity to the plight of people sleeping on the streets of the richest nation on earth.
Many mobile services bring treatment to the persons in question, but nothing's going to stop people from sleeping in parks during the warm weather. Many don't want to abide by shelter rules (no drinking or drug use), some are mentally ill, and some just like sleeping outside. Many of them are at-risk youths.
There's no middle ground ?
There's no middle ground ? Insisting anyone go around to "collect vagrants" is pretty much the definition of wanting to hide the problem. And you're not callous to ignore anybody who doesn't obviously need your help.
Don't oversimplify the reasons people stay away from shelters. They have a lot of rules beyond drug and alcohol rules that make them seem more like a prison than a home. Homelessness is hell and a homeless shelter is the ninth circle of hell.
How is asking the city to
How is asking the city to pick up vagrants and take them to social service centers hiding the problem? That my friend is helping solve the problem by getting those in need of help to those whom exist to help them.
Not every homeless person
Not every homeless person will go to a shelter or needs treatment. Some of us are homeless for financial reasons not because of substance abuse or because we can't take care of ourselves. The sentiment here is one of not wanting to be reminded that homeless people exist. I guess that most people have a very well founded fear that it could one day happen to them and understandably they would rather not have to face that fear.
Reasons for homelessness
umm... isn't being homeless for financial reasons pretty much an open and shut case of being not able to take care of oneself?
One request
Before calling 9-1-1 and tying up precious city resources can you please nudge the guy with your foot first? 9 times out of 10 they're just sleeping and want to be left alone.
This is why we have police and EMS
They are properly trained and equipped individuals who can investigate situations that could harm the average citizen.
The average citizen- quite rightly so- knows that some homeless individuals and might not take kindly to being kicked awake if they are healthy. That's why we have police- to handle situations where the citizens feel an intervention is necessary, but where the citizens are not comfortable, trained, or fully equipped to handle the situation.
I have a close family member
I have a close family member who is homeless due to alcohol/mental issues, so this isn't meant to be crass. But if someone is either asleep or dead, what is EMS going to do either way? Certainly if someone appears to be in distress, call 911. And if you feel the need to have the person "relocated" to a place that bothers you less, call the cops. But if someone is dead in a sleeping bag in the middle of a park, that will become obvious pretty quickly.