One of my EMS coworkers and a budding journalist Sean Freiman interviewed me recently about Hartford’s Opioid Crisis with a focus on the heroin bags.

Click on the picture to view the interview.

Policing is not the problem here: the extent to which we rely upon policing – that’s the problem. This doesn’t not mean the police have no role to play, that the police are perfect and that we should never rely on them to act as society’s safety net. Sometimes it is inevitable the police will be the first point of contact for someone in mental health crisis and we are right to expect officers and their organisations to be competent in ensuring immediate safety and appropriate referral to relevant forms of assessment and support. Nor does my argument mean that what the police know about mental health issues in our society is irrelevant and uninformed: the police see things that are outside the norm and we know like no others what it’s like to be that safety net. This gives us an insight in to how mental health issues operate in society that is different. If you doubt this, look at the number of people who

Here are my thoughts, in summary: the detail is elsewhere on this BLOG across countless posts...

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Knife Crime is very much current and on the rise, both in the capital, London, and across the country generally.  For the purposes of this post I shall be relying on figures that relate to London, but I have no doubt that they will be mirrored elsewhere, just with smaller numbers.  In this context Knife Crime = Any Crime enabled by use of a Knife, not just assaults and homicides etc.

Ethnicity in this context is Self Defined Ethnicity.

In 2012 there were 12,454 recorded victims of Knife Crime in London, 2,489 (20%) were female and 9,960 (80%) were male.  1,566 (12.6%) were Asian, 1,208 (9.7%) were Black (any origin), 185 (1.5%) were Mixed Race, 86 (0.01%) were Chinese, 3,123 (25.1%) were White, 181 (1.5%) were from Any Other Ethnic Group,  and 6,105 (49%) were Unrecorded (including Refused)  for whatever reason.

Fast Forward to 2016 and we see a slight reduction in the total number off victims of Knife Crime

In 2016 there...

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Should unresponsive overdose victims receive rescue breaths or chest compressions from lay bystanders?

If a person is apneic but not in cardiac arrest, failing to give rescue breaths may lead this person to fall into cardiac arrest.

But, if the person is apneic and in cardiac arrest, failure to do quality chest compressions, will lead to their death.

This is a difficult question that we debated in our opioid overdose working group last year. We chose to follow the American Heart Association standards and tell lay rescuers to do chest compressions in apneic patients rather than attempting rescue breathing.

Chest compressions-only are simple, easy to learn, and backed by science.

I like the chest compression for the lay public because:

Chest compressions while providing some circulatory support also provide passive ventilation. *
Chest compressions are also a great stimulus to revive someone from an apneic state.
Most people don’t do rescue breathing very well.

The Ontario Canada Ministry of Health...

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• The 2018 FIFA World Cup, which takes place from 14 June – 15 July, is an opportunity for fraudsters to take advantage of unsuspecting fans. 
• Between 2013 and 2015, over 600 reports were made to Action Fraud in relation to the 2014 World Cup.
• Football fans should be cautious and Take Five before purchasing goods and services online.

The worldwide demand for match tickets, accommodation and flight tickets throughout the competition is expected to be high. Action Fraud is warning those planning to travel to be cautious when buying tickets or accommodation because the event is likely to be targeted by fraudsters looking to take advantage of unsuspecting fans.

Fraudsters will likely be posing as:

• Official World Cup ticket vendors or private individuals attempting to sell on a match ticket via an online marketplace.
• A fraudulent website or operator offering non-existent flights or other transport to host cities.
• An accommodation booking service, hotel or operator, offering seemingly convenient...
  
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When I was still at school, I decided that I wanted to be a police officer. I couldn’t tell you why exactly, but it had something to do with the adventure of it all. That, and the fact it seemed to be a line of work that mattered. Ask most Coppers why they joined and they will tell you, simply, that they wanted to make a difference.

It was a heart thing for me.

It still is.

Because, when you strip away all the noise and the nonsense, it remains about as remarkable – and important – as a job can be.

Yesterday was my first day back in the real world after two happy weeks away with my family. And I woke to news of two more fatal stabbings in London. They happened within 40 minutes of one other – in two completely different parts of the Capital. Then I opened my emails to news of two more of my former police colleagues breaking under the strain. Now off sick and in urgent need of assistance.

And it struck me that these things are not somehow remote or distant. They are here and now, close to home. These are the stories of...

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