The founder
of Claddagh Watch Patrol, a voluntary organisation that aims to prevent
accidental deaths and suicides in Galway, has spoken of how a troubled man was
released by emergency services last weekend and had to be stopped from entering
the water on two occasions. There is nothing here for people distressed, not
just in Galway, this is happening all over the country. When a person is
brought away to be assessed then they are released because there is no place
for them to go.
Arthur
Carr told RTÉ radio’s Today with Séan O’Rourke show that one of his group’s
volunteers had been approached by a member of the man’s family to say they had
found a suicide note.
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| Founder of RESCUE GROUP Critical of Lack of Services For The Suicidal |
The
patrol found the young man in a distressed state sitting on a 12 foot- high
wall over the river. The volunteers had to ‘manhandle’ the person to safety and
then called 999.
The
man was taken away by emergency services “to be assessed”, but within an hour
he was back on the bridge again, said Mr Carr.
The
volunteers engaged with him again and eventually talked him into coming into a
nearby hotel where a member of his family spoke with him and managed to get him
to agree to seek psychiatric care.
There is nothing here for people distressed, not just in Galway,
this is happening all over the country. When a person is brought away to be
assessed then they are released because there is no place for them to go.
Mr
Carr said it was a frequent occurrence for volunteers to encounter the same
person twice in one night. “The ‘blue light services’ are stretched. If there
are alcohol or drugs involved, the psychiatric services don’t want to know.”
He
added that very often one or both (alcohol and drugs) are involved. “They wipe
their hands of them, there is no place for them.
“When
you’ve got a young person attempting to jump into the water at 11pm, there’s
something wrong, but then a medical person will say they’re ok to release.
“Why
is all this happening? This should not be happening. This deserves care and
attention. These people are not in a good place, they deserve a chance to get
back on their own two feet, but they’re not going to do that by being put back
on the street.”
Mr
Carr explained that Claddagh Watch was founded in January 2019 after five
people were lost in one week to the river. The first patrol of volunteers took
place in July 2019, to date there have been 30 engagements when volunteers
intervened and then called the emergency services.
 |
In Scotland Top Cops Are Unaware of Suicide, Self-Harm
Amongst Police Officers. PHOTO Officer Jamie Lynch-Died-Recently.
|
“When
we approach a person- we treat them as we would like to be treated ourselves.
We start a conversation and nine times out of ten they will communicate with
you.”
(Links):
1. One in six gardaí show PTSD signs | IrishExaminer.com
https://amp.irishexaminer.com/ireland/one-in-six-gardai-show-ptsd-signs-471264.html
30/05/2018 · Seven gardaí
took their own lives in the past year and a survey shows around one in six
gardaí have exhibited signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
2. One in six gardaí show PTSD signs
https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/one-in-six-gardai-show-ptsd-signs-471264.html
30/05/2018 · Seven gardaí took
their own lives in the past year and a survey shows around one in six gardaí
have exhibited signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
3. Garda association reveals seven officers took their own ...
https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/seven-gardai-committed-suicide-last-12614975
29/05/2018 · Seven gardai
took their own lives in the last year, grim figures revealed on Tuesday.
4. Seven Gardai have died by suicide in last 12 months ...
https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/seven-gardai-died-suicide-last-14719357
29/05/2018 · Seven gardai
have taken their own lives in the last twelve months, the President of the
Garda Representative Association has said.
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