We are speaking from personal experience here, so please don’t think we are over generalizing about these workers.

Some non professionals just see what they want to see. They don’t know what to look for and they don’t tend to notice the details that need to be tending to. They may be do-gooders but there is little follow up. Helping someone improve their functionality is important, but passive social workers are really not helping.

What we need is to be really proactive with the mentally ill community and to seniors. Learning problem solving and basic skills.

My husband has been a Paramedic for 22 years. What does he see most? Car crashes? Heart attacks? Strokes? Overdoses? Mostly, it is mental health issues. So, the ambulance and Law Enforcement will arrive. But they are not specifically trained to care for the mentally ill other then evaluate their crisis and transport them safely to a crisis unit.

While there are such things as Mobile Crisis Units, there is only about one for every county, so I am told. And those can fill up fast. The EMS workers can’t leave their patients behind until they transfer care so that takes our EMS workers out of service. Thus, creating a 911 backlog.

So what is our solution going to be? Or better yet, solution(s)? Perhaps we could start small: Pay attention to people and show some true compassion. You just might get some in return.