** Glasgow paramedics in Scotland under siege from potentially violent patients?
** England’s paramedics responding to more mental health calls
UNITED KINGDOM NEWS
** Scottish paramedics in Glasgow are apparently contending with an unusual number of patient addresses flagged as potentially violent. That is the word from Glasgow Live (Claire Miller/August 12) which said 700 homes in the city carry the designation. According to the newspaper, the EMS dispatch system says 2836 addresses carry risk factors. Of the latter, 2185 homes are sites where paramedics were previously subjected to violent behaviour from occupants. The news comes at a time when government officials said around 5,000 addresses in total have been flagged across the United Kingdom. Last week, paramedics in Devon said they, too, were seeing an increasing need for police presence at EMS calls.
** Paramedics across England are responding to a huge upswing in calls for patients suffering mental health problems. The Guardian (Sarah Marsh/August 13) said EMS services across the country have seen a 25 per cent jump in the last two years. According to the newspaper, medics assisted 30,000 more people or 172, 799 individuals with mental health concerns in 2016-17. Â In 2014-15, the number was 140, 137 people. London Ambulance Service responds to the most mental health help hails. Between 2016-2017 medics attended to 51,717 such calls. West Midlands paramedics, meanwhile, noted a 41 per cent increase in the number of mental health calls. Critics say the phenomena is evidence that inadequate funding is being directed towards early intervention and prevention programs.
