British Police Are Not Medics

Federation Operational Policing Lead Simon Kempton warns of ‘mission creep’ as police officers are pressured into taking on greater responsibility

In theory, it sounds like a great idea – ask officers to carry medical kit so they can literally be prepared for anything.

www.polfed.org...

The British police are unbearably overstretched as it is. Asking them to be medics sounds like another way to wear them down, part of the ongoing war against the Office of Constable. When they're unable to cope with the violence epidemic we're expected to welcome military on the streets. It's all been planned out.

You don't call a plumber when you need an electrician. When you need a medic you need a medic.

ALL THE PEOPLE SAYING GUNS ARE THE ANSWER This man was trying to self harm, he had the blade pointed at his own chest and Ben Jeffries was trying to take it off him when he got his hand sliced between thumb and forefinger. 12 stitches and lots of physio. So what you goons are saying is that if a mentally unstable man is trying to stab himself in the chest we shoot him to stop him from harming himself. Makes sense...

Mentally unstable are a danger to themselves and no one else unless people are around them. Then, now that's a different story. A knife is deadly so I think in the States they use Mace. I think that is better then shooting them dead.

What are your guys thoughts?

No the police are not medics, but they do have to deal with mentally unhinged people. It's what is part of their job. Protecting the public also includes protection people with a screw loose. The police are not drug or alcohol councillors, but they have deal with drunks everyday.

The Police Federation is represents police officers and not the public.

a reply to: Kester

So what you goons are saying is that if a mentally unstable man is trying to stab himself in the chest we shoot him to stop him from harming himself. Makes sense...

No. Nobody is saying this.

I would just tase him or something but if he turned the knife on another person, I'd turn the mfer into swiss cheese.

I am not a police officer but I regularly find myself confiscating drugs from people, restraining violent patients and dealing with the fallout of crime.

But it’s part of my job.

Just like it is part of their job to act as first responders to all kind of incidents that might involve them having to provide healthcare. That might be injecting narcan, administering CPR or responding to a mental health crisis.

It’s not uncommon to require police support when attempting to detain a individual having a mental health crisis who is a danger to himself or others. It’s not unusual to require police support to assist in responding to a medical emergency which can range from directing traffic to full in armed response to secure a area.

It’s part of their job and it pretty much always has been and always will be. Yes they’re stretched but not as stretched as the NHS and some other public bodies.

Nm

I agree, the British cops are not medics, they are the thought police

They are to busy with ‘hate’ posts to do medicine

a reply to: SocratesJohnson

Keeping you up to date.

Police need focus on violent crime, not hate crime, says UK's top police officer

www.telegraph.co.uk...

Before anyone criticises Cressida Dick over the de Menezes shooting. He did contract work on the underground, witnessed something related to the bombs, phoned his cousins and warned them, and was then executed in public by military traitors. It was not a police matter.

a reply to: paraphi

. . . they have deal with drunks everyday.

I often think there should be specialist alcohol teams funded entirely by the alcohol industry. But that would be logical, and half the government are totally fried on coc aine so logic has evaporated.

originally posted by: OtherSideOfTheCoin
I am not a police officer but I regularly find myself confiscating drugs from people, restraining violent patients and dealing with the fallout of crime.

But it’s part of my job.

When you're tying people up and stealing their drugs there's always bound to be fallout.

And here I was thinking your pic was more Men in Black than Reservoir Dogs.
Oh well, Live and learn.

originally posted by: Kester

Federation Operational Policing Lead Simon Kempton warns of ‘mission creep’ as police officers are pressured into taking on greater responsibility

In theory, it sounds like a great idea – ask officers to carry medical kit so they can literally be prepared for anything.

www.polfed.org...

The British police are unbearably overstretched as it is. Asking them to be medics sounds like another way to wear them down, part of the ongoing war against the Office of Constable. When they're unable to cope with the violence epidemic we're expected to welcome military on the streets. It's all been planned out.

You don't call a plumber when you need an electrician. When you need a medic you need a medic.

ALL THE PEOPLE SAYING GUNS ARE THE ANSWER This man was trying to self harm, he had the blade pointed at his own chest and Ben Jeffries was trying to take it off him when he got his hand sliced between thumb and forefinger. 12 stitches and lots of physio. So what you goons are saying is that if a mentally unstable man is trying to stab himself in the chest we shoot him to stop him from harming himself. Makes sense...

We could use all police everywhere (and it is happening now)..to be cross-trained as EMT's....because almost EVERY CALL we get to...they get there before we EMS-ambulances do.

And they aren't used INSTEAD of us...but until we get there...and police are mostly always on every EMS call anyway.

It would save lives.

EMT
Advanced Life Support
U.S.A.

British Police are not medics

They're not medics but by their nature they should be generalists and that means able to deal adequately with anything / everything . In SF patrols of 4 , one of them at least is trained as a medic .

generalist /ˈdʒɛn(ə)rəlɪst/Submit noun a person competent in several different fields or activities.

a reply to: DoctorBluechip

Here the police are often single crewed. It's just one of the methods being used to destroy them to make way for a militarised and/or privatised police force for the bankster scum to hide behind.

Single-crewing is commonplace in a service that is feeling the brunt of issues around resilience.

The true extent of this problem was a significant finding in the recent analysis of PFEW’s officer welfare survey, with 73% of respondents saying they were single-crewed either often or always in the last 12 months. Officers are frequently ending up in vulnerable situations with little or no back up and from a welfare perspective, this is unacceptable.

www.polfed.org...

. . . able to deal adequately with anything / everything.

I'd say this is the crux of the matter. We expect superman/woman to spring into action, then complain about their merely human performance. I've known British police to deal effectively and compassionately with the most bizarre incidents. Rescuing a martial artist off his head after being spiked with '___' from the depths of a well established bramble patch that he'd jumped into from a wall after crashing his car, for example. We're sure to be disappointed if we expect too much from them. They've repeatedly told us for years that they are stretched to the limits of their endurance. It's well past time to listen to them.