After pushback from medical officials and first responders, the city walked back last week's abrupt decision to end a contract with the company that operates Anchorage's sleep-off center and provides van services for people incapacitated by drugs/alcohol.
Anchorage Safety Patrol picks up an individual near the Safe Harbor Inn Merrill in 2015.
Each month, Anchorage Safety Patrol responds to about 1,000 calls largely involving intoxicated individuals found on city streets. The program’s emergency medical technicians transport people in vans to the sleep-off center, where they are held until they’re sober enough for release.up to $2 million per year to provide those services. The company has operated the program since 2016 but failed to fulfill contractual obligations this year because of short staffing.
Having the vans out of service has caused strain for the Anchorage Fire Department, which responded to roughly 3,600 calls from January through June that could have been handled by safety patrol, according to data from the fire department. They responded to 3,000 such calls during all of last year.
The Anchorage Police Department also anticipated that the pause in service would increase its call volume and lengthen response times, spokeswoman Sunny Guerin said in an email. Even if police responded to those calls, Guerin said, there was the issue of where to take people while the sleep-off center was closed.
The announcement about Securitas’ contract termination came as a surprise to officials at the fire department and local hospitals. Boyd said he found out the services would end just minutes before the city health department made the public announcement. In an email, health department spokeswoman Fehribach said officials have been “concerned about the level of care that people receive from ASP/C since the incident this past December when a Securitas staff member left an elder outside of the ASC.” Video of the incident’s aftermathFehribach did not answer a question about whether there had been more recent incidents that caused similar safety concerns.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Health Department reverses previous termination of contract to staff Anchorage Safety Patrolon Friday, AHD said that it was rescinding their termination of the contract, saying that “due to recent conversations with local emergency service providers” influenced the decision.
Read more »
From planting trees to fixing trails, Anchorage teens spend summer improving city parksA group of Anchorage teens this summer has planted hundreds of trees, cleared invasive plants and fixed up muddy trails as part of a city program that aims to teach leadership and outdoor skills.
Read more »
Many trying to beat the heat at the Jersey shoreIn anticipation of this dangerous weather, members of the Ocean City Beach Patrol were prepared.
Read more »
New York City crane collapse linked to company and operator with history of safety violationsAs authorities continue to investigate a crane collapse that rained thousands of pounds of steel debris onto a busy Manhattan street, the owner and operator of the failed crane are facing scrutiny over past safety failures.
Read more »
New York City crane collapse linked to company and operator with history of safety violationsAs authorities continue to investigate a crane collapse that rained thousands of pounds of steel debris onto a busy Manhattan street, the owner and operator of the failed crane are facing scrutiny over past safety failures
Read more »