Concord Firefighter: Safe Place Heroin Program is a 'Feel Good Measure'

CONCORD, NH — The Opioid crisis has taken a major toll on our state, as well as emergency services. We have discussed in prior articles, posted on the Local 1045 Facebook page and Patch, some of the major ways New Hampshire can change the curse of this issue, notably with time and money. In a dash, everyone has done all they can to try to help these people and our community.

Manchester Fire has even adopted the "Safe Place" campaign to allow people seeking help to go to a fire station to look for help. They have aided many people and have recently added some new aspects to the program. This is a feel good measure, but I would like to talk about the specific risk that I witnessed first-hand a few days ago.

Station 7’s doorbell rang at about 5 p.m. and our lieutenant answered the door. A man pushed his way passed the lieutenant and immediately started to rant about being followed. One of the guys yelled back to the crew that we had a medical call up front. As I got to the office, it was obvious that this man was very altered on some sort of substance. He was soaked with sweat, his eyes were wide open and searching for perceived threats. He was yelling about being followed and how people were out to get him. He would go from just breathing heavy to pacing and screaming or crying. He was asking us to protect him and that he wanted treatment. He admitted that he was high on methamphetamines.

The lieutenant wisely asked the man to wait out on the ramp and used the excuse that the office was very small. The entire time he was on the ramp, he kept going from crying to wild paranoia. He would ask us to look at the cars passing and would scream about a blue minivan that was stalking him. When we would let him know we didn’t see a van, he would get angry and start the cycle again.

We had called Concord Police because the Concord Fire Department has not adopted the “Safe Place” program. Our options for such patients in Concord are to take this man to the hospital in the ambulance or call the police and have them transport up to the hospital. Witnessing the incessant hostility and violence shown from this gentleman, the police were called to asses and transport him to the Concord Hospital emergency room.

The police arrived and started to work with us to figure out the situation. As police always do for their safety, they began to search the man. I was shocked as the man pulled a kitchen knife out of his pocket. He put it on a table and one of our guys quickly took it and put it somewhere safe. The man continued to rant as he was taken away to the ER, as things seemed to return to normal.

After this encounter, I was left with some serious concerns regarding the situation and the idea of the program itself.

What if this man had still been in the station and had suddenly felt we were the ones out to get him? What if he had pulled out that knife with the intention of using it? What if he had a gun rather than a knife? Our firefighters are trained to deal with drug overdoses, but not with assaults with weapons. Our people don’t get training in deescalating people on meth or other drugs. We don’t search people before we let them into our station. Is this type of program good for firefighter safety?

We have all heard the stories of one man on meth taking on a group of police with Tasers. How would that go in a firehouse? Everyone pictures a timid person standing at the door, kicking the dirt and asking for help. But the reality is just not that simple and safe.

Perhaps, we as a state need to look more closely at this plan and its implications on our first responders. In these types of situations, police stations and health care facilities may be the better options to handle such incidences. Perhaps a state wide unit could be implemented, being staffed with trained individuals for this type of crisis intervention. Arriving at the location of the caller, these staff could asses and take these people to a facility for treatment. A person who has come to grips with needing treatment is usually at rock bottom. They have often been involved in a criminal element and sometimes that follows them. Often, they are high and lack judgment. These times call for thinking outside of the box, but I think making our firehouses unsafe is not the answer.

Jim Duckworth is president of Professional Firefighters of Concord NH - Local 1045