Emergency medical service workers fear NYC Mayor Adams' directive to forcibly take people believed to have mental illness to hospitals will increase an already significant number of assaults on first responders — and not meet the needs of people in crisis.
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022.Emergency medical service workers and advocacy leaders fear the Adams administration's new policy to forcibly take people believed to have mental illness to hospitals will increase an already significant number of assaults on first responders — and not meet the needs of homeless people in crisis.
Once admitted, psychiatric patients who are homeless often “get a sandwich, and a quick psychiatric evaluation before they are back on the street again,” said Ashley Lurie, who has been an EMS worker for more than a decade. She said she has been assaulted about five times and most of them were psychiatric calls: “The policy won’t change things. We need a significant influx of funding and getting trained people into the system.
While the new directive is meant to get help for unhoused people with mental health conditions, EMSPAC Chief Advocacy Officer
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