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FOOTY LIFTOUT TURNS 20 Our key players recall the magic moments LIFTOUT INSIDE Wednesday, 6 April 2016
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■ Crime-busting police forced to guard mental patients...
Babysitting cops By ANEEKA SIMONIS HEALTH laws are taking police off the streets to look after dangerous volatile psychotic patients, many high on ice, for up to eight hours a time. An emergency services worker, who asked not to be identified, said
skyrocketing hospital admission rates for mentally unwell patients was “out-of-control”, particularly in the Cardinia Shire and Greater Dandenong region. They said that hospital staff and police are at odds with each other over the issue, with many police officers growing frustrated with laws
requiring them to mind drugged or volatile patients for hours at a time as they wait to be seen by emergency health staff. In some cases, police are being accused of dumping patients at hospitals so they can carry on with their other duties. A hospital diversion system coordinated by police and psychiatric
staff was introduced to relieve pressure on the region’s public health system, but it appears the program is also struggling to keep up. In the past 18 months, the Police, Ambulance and Critical Early Response (PACER) unit servicing the southern metropolitan region, including the Cardinia, Casey and
Greater Dandenong region, has been called to intervene in more than double the cases seen since its inception. Police have made unsuccessful funding requests to expand the single vehicle unit’s current hours of 3pm and 11pm daily.
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Volunteer Gladys Rebelo, Oncology Unit Manager Deborah Ferguson, volunteer Maree Quinn and SJOG Berwick CEO Lisa Norman 152396 Picture: STEWART CHAMBERS
Free wigs to boost self esteem
ST John of God (SJOG) hospital in Berwick has launched their free wig library service for cancer sufferers. The free hair-hire service is open not only to the hospital’s oncology patients, but to all cancer sufferers in the community throughout the duration of their treatment. Fifty wigs are currently on offer at the oncology unit, brought using more than $37, 000 in community donations. Volunteers will lead the program, having undergone training to fit, style and maintain the wigs available for female, male and teen cancer patients. The service intends to boost the self-esteem of patients during their difficult treatment process. SJOG Berwick CEO Lisa Norman spoke at length about the importance of hair to a person’s identity, self-expression and personality at the official launch on Tuesday 5 April. “For many, it helps us define who we are,” she said. She thanked the community for the “tsunami of support” enabling the fruition of the two-year project due to expand with demand. For more on the Community Wig Library, pick up a copy of next week’s Pakenham-Berwick Gazette.
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