(file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Michael Joel-Hansen

Public Safety

Callers asked to keep some things in mind when reporting person laying down in public

Jul 27, 2020 | 2:00 PM

Parkland Ambulance is asking the public to take extra steps before they call to report a person laying down in a public place.

Parkland’s Director of Public Affairs Lyle Karasiuk said they often get calls about people being down in public places. He added, if it is possible, members of the general public should reach out to the person before calling 911.

“If it safe and only if it’s safe for you to do so, we would encourage you to stop and actually ask ‘What’s wrong? How can I help?” he said.

Karasiuk explained in many cases paramedics will get a call about someone laying down in a public area and by the time they arrive, the person who was the subject of the call has left. He said there are also cases where medics get to the scene and the subject of the call does not need help.

Another action is to stay on the scene to provide paramedics directions to where the person is once they arrive on scene. Karasiuk said there could be situations where it might be hard to find the down person.

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“You need to be able to provide those proper directions rather than paramedics wandering through a very large park, looking under bushes and around trees,” he said.

Overall Karasiuk said they don’t want to discourage people from calling them in these situations, but would appreciate people taking extra steps to help.

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MichaelJoel.Hansen@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @mjhskcdn