This is the week… I thought I had seen and heard everything serving as a first responder over the years. It is not the time to tear up, but there must be a limit to what responders are expected to tolerate. The big wigs need to swoop in and finally come to their rescue.
Responders are paying the price during the pandemic, and not just paramedics. Exposed to the virus, and in varying states of denial, some members of the public have treated emergency and health care workers to some outrageous confrontations and behaviour that would not have been tolerated before the bug hit. The exposure to elevated health risks by front-line staff is bad enough; being faced with ongoing emotional and physical assaults while carrying out your job is truly unconscionable.
It’s time for politicos to be held to account. Public servants do just that: serve the public. Responders and healthcare workers must not be scapegoats for those who want to enforce their agenda. This is not part of their job description. Leaders, it's your turn to go on the offensive to protect folks going face to face every day to serve the citizens of Ontario.
Watching the media coverage of the convoy occupying our nation’s capital is frightening. Seeing responders and their vehicles repeatedly blocked by protesters on route to emergencies and, in some cases, assaulted with no consequences is beyond a slap in the face. As a Canadian, I am all for free speech. A demonstration, fine. Some noise, OK!
But (and it’s a big one) to allow a multiple-day event with protesters building encampments in the street and abandoning vehicles to block roadways is wrong. Public urination and defecation, unchecked. Would you let your children do that? Permitting and empowering protestors and agitators to refuel vehicles, open impromptu and unregulated food preparation facilities for the masses, what are you thinking? The list could be longer.
There are enough bylaws, regulations, codes and legislated acts at everyone’s collective fingertips to end this mess methodically and safely. Shame on you all. Firstly, to the politicians: take some of the heat off your public safety organizations by directing them to enforce the law with the ever-present tools they have to do their jobs.
Stop trying so hard to be politically correct. Responders will carry out their assignments professionally and objectively while protecting the public for the greater good. Emergencies must not be fodder for your next election.
An unofficial edict to the legal pundits, provincial and federal: communicate a real plan with your law enforcement professionals and support them with the follow-through in returning to normal conditions. Bring in revised and enforceable legislation limiting demonstrations to a reasonable time. ONE DAY, maximum. Remember, Canadians are not against free speech. Raise the roof but don’t endanger others.
To the chiefs and managers of our first responders: continue to support your colleagues and members to do their jobs. It is safe to assume that any encumbrance is external to your organization. It appears you all have the tools to do your jobs, but someone has placed a padlock on the toolbox. What a sad week.
Good outcomes when protecting the public are primarily the result of effective planning, timely execution and planning for continuous improvement within our emergency agencies. When you tie the responders’ hands trying to avoid a confrontation, the results jump off the screen every news cycle.
The public needs to see an end to the uncontrolled occupation of our cities and the resumption of public safety. Responders want to know they are being protected and backed to do their jobs. Chiefs and managers deserve the support to protect their members and direct their workforce. This variant of the social virus is spreading to multiple locations.
The latest warning sent to Toronto healthcare workers to go to and from work in civilian garb instead of uniforms for their own safety enrages me. What’s next: firefighters with baseball caps and windbreakers entering infernos to avoid the attention. Police in unmarked sub-compact cars patrolling their beats in pyjamas? Paramedics in T-shirts and Bermuda shorts doing CPR? Wake up!
Politicians should not be restricting healthcare workers and first responders in carrying out their duties. At the same time, the public should not forget who the politicians work for when the next election cycle is upon us.
Someone in the parenting business once said: never threaten to spank a child. Reserve the punishment for the last avenue of correction. A learning moment, that outcry that there are consequences for your actions. Is it time for a spanking?
To all the healthcare workers and first responders: wear your uniforms with pride. Your service to the public is to be commended; it should never be a threat to your safety and wellbeing!