the Happy Medic

By now you've seen the viral videos of the Chicago Fire Department interactions with a violent citizen that ended in the Firefighters using forcible entry tools to stop an attack. Here's the link to the story.   As soon as the video starts with the CPD Officer holding her Taser which has already been deployed I knew exactly how this was going to end. For years municipalities have been sending fire engines and ambulances to mental health crisis and the results haven't exactly been promising. It turns out that sending a hammer to adjust a timing belt doesn't work well. The Emergency Room isn't the place for folks who are a danger to themselves or others and we on the Fire and EMS side are so under trained it's laughable. De-escalation failed in this case, that's why the taser was deployed. Why Fire an EMS was ever called in the first place is part of what I wanted to address after we cover the elephant in the room: Was the CFD member out of line for striking a...