Would the republicans fund it???

We need a Mental EMS.

Who do you call when someone says they want to kill themselves???

The police are trained to talk someone off a bridge, but what about when they're on a barstool???

EMTs??? Where's the injury for them to treat???


Tonight at work, we had a gentleman create quite a disturbance (this has nothing to do with my post from the other day). He came in and started talking to the hostesses, grabbed one of their arms, was visibly drunk, freaked them out and when they ran away he started getting really nasty with our owner who'd gone up to see what was going on, he was finally pushed out by our very tough looking pizza cooks, after they saw a commotion and ran out from behind the bar (where the pizza oven is) to the front door.

About four minutes later he was back... the hostesses ran, he walked in and started yelling at the bartender, again, he was removed by the other owner (the male owner) with backup from several staff and patrons.

He left and then came around again, flicking off the restaurant through the windows.

The owners called the police, they showed up in a bit and started looking around for the man, whom we eventually found out, they'd apprehended earlier that afternoon for creating a disturbance somewhere else.

The issue was - he was riding around in a hover-round type scooter, he was a double amputee (with prosthetics) and was wearing a military jacket with Iraq insignia... there were signs he might have had a drug habit...

are the police really the right people to be handling this guy??? Do they have options I'm not aware of for trying to assist this man with what he really needs assistance with, which isn't just sleeping off his drunkenness...

there was an ongoing discussion about this man. The female owner, who'd been verbally and almost physically assaulted by him, declared that if he was a vet, she felt sorry for him and someone should help him - but if he just got in a motorcycle accident or something and that's why his legs had to be removed, then he's a horrible and maybe pathetic person and it's his own fault and he should get no help what-so-ever.


But what if we had a Mental EMS - people trained in how to deal with those who need Help - not punishment, not emergency medical care, but psychological treatment, access to government services... help.

There's no reason to believe that after this man spends a night in jail he'll be any better off, or any less likely to repeat what happened this evening.

Granted - this guy was a danger to others and himself, as he was riding his shooter through the street, while highly intoxicated (by the way, we did not serve this man anything, he showed up that way) - so the police were warranted in this case... but what about my guy the other night, if I had really thought he might harm himself, who should I have called??? Who do you contact when the person with the problem needs long term, sustained care and help... it's not an emergency now, but it might be later...

it seems like we're told to wait till it is an emergency. Wait till it's too late to be of real assistance.


It just bothers me.