000 is under threat of collapsing in Victoria. Paramedics and hospitals are not coping.
Everyone is told to phone 000 in an emergency.
But Victoria's health system is in a state of crisis and is not coping.
There is an option to relieve the pressure.
People with acute mental illness like schizophrenia and suicidal depression deserve so much more than being told to ring triple zero and then being bumped to the least critical need because there's not enough resources for emotional emergencies.
Get mental health added to Triple Zero.
State and federal ministerial responses to this petition from 2020, state 'mental health and triple zero is not a priority for the current time of covid'. How things have changed.
Police Ministers repeatedly reply to my letters, stating the successful roll out of PACER. PACER is a forensic response (police) with mental health experts as secondary back up. Why are police with weapons and combat training being given primary care for someone dealing with complex trauma stemming most probably from the actions of violent men?
Police responded to my question why mental health experts are secondary backup with the answer that "only police are trained to deal with life and death situations".
This is false. Thousands of mental health workers, psychiatric staff and cultural elders around Australia are trained and highly skilled in de-esculating the crisis of people with complex trauma distress resulting from abuse, war, generational trauma, and economic and relationship stress now occurring in so many homes in lockdowns.
How can a Police Officer or a Paramedic offer anything to a person suffering these realities other than a rough ride to an Emergency Department either in the back of a divvy or on a bed equipped with defibrillators, drugs and oxygen? Then that person is handed over to Triage which as we now see, is itself crumbling under extreme conditions. The person has to sit in a chaotic room, alone, and the staff response starts all over again.
This ignorant reply from Australian government about mental health emergency response not being a priority in 2021 is not acceptable.
Everyone in lockdown in Victoria, NSW and many other parts of Australia would now understand what mental health is about and why it's so important that properly trained and resourced experts are available to meet and treat people in acute mental health distress.
Get mental health out of forensic and paramedic response.
Get mental health added to Triple Zero.