Excerpts from the dailyherald.com:
The Naperville Fire Department is getting help to deal with the increasing number of 911 calls related to mental health and quality-of-life concerns as the city council unanimously approved the hiring of six new firefighter/paramedics at an annual cost of $750,000. Because the hirings are anticipated to be made in October, council members also voted to amend the 2023 budget with a $175,000 addition to account for salaries and benefits through the end of the year.
The initiative is an expansion of the Community Advocate Response Team (CART) that began as a pilot program in 2022. The CART program requires extra staffing to build its capability to 24 hours a day and seven days a week.
Because Naperville is part of the Ground Emergency Medical Transportation and Emergency Triage, Treat and Transport federal programs, the costs of the added firefighters/paramedics will be reimbursed to the city.
Their goal is to minimize or eliminate the issues, even if calls take several hours, before they become life-threatening events. No new equipment, vehicles ,or technology will be necessary in 2024.
“This is a paradigm shift in fire service today. Not just for Naperville, not just this region, but around the country.” Fire Chief Mark Puknaitis said.
According to statistics provided by the city, the number of calls for emergency medical services increased from 9,868 in 2020 to 12,095 in 2022. Calls categorized as mental health or quality of life concerns increased from 3,006 to 3,305 during that same time.
To address the rising number of calls with current staffing, $1.1 million a year in overtime would need to be paid.
“You will be seeing more of this happening, especially with departments our size and larger,” Puknaitis said of the CART program. “Because there’s a need out there. The world has changed. And the situations that we respond to, we have noticed, we can do more.”
#1 by Tom on September 23, 2023 - 9:44 AM
Michael,
I don’t think no one is disputing that neither. I think we can all agree on that as well. What Naperville is talking about are mental health calls from 2020-2022 and so is the McHenry County piece about suicides/mental health from 2020-2022. I think it’s another part of the problem as well with social media, therefore I think crabby was onto something when he posted.
#2 by Michael on September 23, 2023 - 8:50 AM
Last thought,
Take a look at some of the studies about the what has happened since the introduction of social media and mental health of youth and girls especially.
One snippet ” From 2007 to 2018, rates of suicide among those ages 10-24 increased nearly 60%.
Suicide is now the second leading cause of death among those ages 15-24 in the United States.
Knowledge is power my brother and sisters.
Done
#3 by Tom on September 22, 2023 - 7:44 PM
Gerald,
Actually, crabbymilton is on to something here. McHenry county apparently is having a problem with pot legalization contributing to this problem. Suicides in the county greatly increased and the common denominator was Marijuana usage.
https://patch.com/illinois/crystallake/mchenry-co-dispensaries-warn-mental-health-risks
#4 by Gerald on September 22, 2023 - 2:20 PM
Crabby,
No, I’m opposing your view that the increase in calls is due to the legalization of pot, which is incorrect. You’re entitled to your own opinions, but your own facts.
Not sure where you get the idea that I think homelessness a joke, I’m pointing out the ridiculous and oversimplified notion many have that the homeless are just lazy and can easily pick themselves up out of their situation.
#5 by crabbymilton on September 22, 2023 - 1:51 PM
Ok Gerald I’ll let you get the last word since I don’t want to anger the moderator. I don’t deny what the MED units deal with and won’t minimize that. We all can have opinions. So are you defending using that garbage? With such horrible people out there, social media is a wonderful alternative. Sure no doubt that most homeless have severe mental problems. They won’t get help but rather collectively enable them to ruin our neighborhoods and bothering people who are just trying to conduct daily business. But the idea to help them to help themselves and or/get them off the streets is a funny joke to you. I’m done with this topic.
#6 by Gerald on September 22, 2023 - 1:27 PM
Crabby,
Might want to listen to the medics on the street on this one. But you probably won’t. You’re out of touch on the marijuana issue for sure, and if you can’t make the connection between a social media obsessed culture and the rise in anxiety and depression, you’re out of touch on that too. And you’re missing the fact that the vast majority of homeless also have a comorbid mental illness. But sure, it’s pot that’s the problem and the homeless should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps (a hilarious and impossible analogy in itself).
#7 by crabbymilton on September 22, 2023 - 11:55 AM
Gerald. I’m so very glad I never tried that crap but pot is a gateway and more potant than long legal substances such as alcohol. Most people are responsible with it comes to consuming alcohol. I’m sure there are some who can claim to smoke pot and be responsible but not most. Sure mental illness can come from any number of things but pot doesn’t do any favors. Youth suicide as sad and tragic as it is can be blamed on bad parenting. I cringe when people blame social media. Much like our parents and grandparents blamed TV. Just a cowards way out to avoid self examination and blaming the instruments/devices. As for homeless, most of them chose not to fix their lives.
#8 by Gerald on September 22, 2023 - 10:11 AM
Crabby, as a guy on the street….simply put, no. Not at all. Not even “probably”.
No need to set up a straw man on pot legalization when there are legitimate mental health crises nation/worldwide.
#9 by DMc77 on September 22, 2023 - 10:02 AM
We too have seen an increase in EMS runs, particularly due to mental health, alcohol/substance abuse, and homelessness. The one category marijuana has added a very slight increase to is fire alarms. I go to a handful of fire alarms each year due to marijuana smoke, mainly in park district buildings that are alarmed and open to the public, but not necessarily staffed. I’ve arrived on scene to find a huge cloud that I can smell half a block away
#10 by Michael on September 22, 2023 - 9:48 AM
Really I would put ETOH far ahead. One way or another alcohol as a major player for both chronic and acute calls . Also may want to look at the effect of social media particularly the rates of suicide in youth. Weed, no-one has started their Nobel speech I could not have done it with out weed but….
#11 by crabbymilton on September 22, 2023 - 5:45 AM
Makes one really wonder when you look at the big picture that the increased calls are probably linked to legalizing pot.