Crackheads vs The Mentally Ill........Who gets better treatment???

Recently a mother took her fifty-year old son to County Memorial General, one of the largest hospitals in the region. She told the ER staff that her son had not taken his antipsychotic medication in some time and was making absolutely no sense and so on.
An ER doc saw her son briefly and then a psychiatric nurse evaluated him. The nurse requested that we see this gentleman. The nurse reported that this gentleman is grossly psychotic, not able to function , and so on...and not able to make an informed decision about treatment. (OK, you need to remember this part as I'll be referring to it later.)
We get there and agree with the nurse's assessment and start trying to find a TDO bed. (Do you all rememeber...TDO...Temporary Detaining Order?) OK. Hospital A would not take this gentleman because he has Medicare and the free-standing days are exhausted. Hospital B basically just doesn't want to be bothered. Hospital C has no beds. Now, hospital D...well, they seemed they would accept him; however, they jerked me around for over and hour and then declined.
Now, the ER staff knew we were looking for a bed. And, they are used to it sometimes taking more than a day to find one. Anyway, the next morning we found out the son left the ER. Nice. The hospital says this person must be detained and so on and the person is allowed to leave.
OK. Right up front, the hospital has no legal means to force this person to stay at the hospital; however, from a practical standpoint, knowing that the person needs emergency psychiatric care, the hospital could have at a minimum put a sitter in the gentleman's room. (Note, a sitter is just what it says...someone who stays with the patient and who can discourage them from trying to leave.)
I won't even go into the rest of what happened in this case... Quite unpleasant.

OK, same hospital, same ER staff.
A crackhead (don't get all riled up--my dictionary has this word) shows up and says, I'm going to kill myself if I don't get help. Now, keep in mind that using crack is against the law. Yep, it is. And furthermore, keep in mind that few crackheads work. Sooooo, where do the crackheads get the money to buy crack? Good question. I'll let you use your imagination on this one. Ever had your car broken into? Ever had your home burglarized? Ever been knocked on the head and awake to find you no longer have a wallet? Well, you get the idea.
OK. So this criminal comes to an ER, of course he has no money, and of course he'll never pay the hospital bill, demanding, yes, demanding that you provide him with room and board. Actually, they are extorting money from the hospital and the bill is ultimately paid by, guess who? Yes, ladies and gentlemen, for those of us who are silly enough to go out there and work, we're picking up the tab.
Additionally, most likely 90% of these...well.....anyway, are on probation or parole and yes, smoking crack does violate that.
Trust me on this one, over 95% of these folks do not want help in trying to quit using crack. Period. Nope, not going to debate it with you.
Why are they at the hospital? Out of money. Drug dealer after them. Court appearance coming up and they want sympathy or some such thing. The just stole the 5th TV from their family and got kicked out for the 99th time. They used their mom's ATM card and got caught. Or, they just want to take a break, you know, have someone bring them their food and give them a place to stay or hideout for awhile.
Now, this is the good one. I have never heard of a crackhead just outright killing themselves. Period! Yes, a handful may die because of too much crack and cardiac problems or some such thing. However, I've never heard of one to say, I can't get help and kill themselves. Please, if you know of one out there, let me know.
Remember the poor mentally ill fellow mentioned above. Yes, the one that left the hospital. Yes, the one the hospital didn't provide with a sitter. Good.
OK, now we come to another good part.
THE CRACKHEAD CRIMINAL WHO IS LYING ABOUT GOING TO KILL HIMSELF IS GIVEN A SITTER.
In a way it would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic and such a waste of money. Yes, you see them propped up on a gurney and we, yes ladies and gentlemen, we are paying for someone who will sit next to them. Hey, the last thing the old crackhead is going to do is leave!!!! They want that free (to them) room and board.
And, so it goes!!!!!!
Hey, I'm tired of writing this one....and getting a little ticked off.

Mid-Mountain CSB-You most likely wouldn't want to request rocket designs or have your brain worked on here.....

First off, if anyone stumbled across this site and doesn’t know what CSB is...well, its Community Services Board. Yes, these are the agencies around the state whose job it is...well, they are charged with the responsibility of supplying mental heath and substance abuse services for the folks in the community that they serve. Anyway, where was I? OK. Stay with me on this one as I'm sure you will see the logic that is escaping me. Here goes. If you want to be an Emergency Services' Worker in the Commonwealth, you must have a masters' degree (social work, psychology, and so on) and become certified. No, becoming certified is not the equivalent of SEAL training, or training at Quantico to become an Embassy Guard, or becoming an Army Ranger. The certification process goes something like this; read some stuff, watch some videos, sit in on few evaluations, do a few evaluations, and have a supervisor watch you do a few evaluations. Now, this in no way denigrates the folks who do this job...as frankly the job is a real....anyway, it sure ain't easy folks. Yes, a lot of it is routine and requires little thinking; however, the tough cases will just about do you in. (Let's get this in some perspective.....any of us who are not in Iraq or Afghanistan being shot at and blown up because of the bozo in the White House, basically have it made.) Where was I? Oh, yes. There are some folks who were grandfathered in who do not have a masters' degree. Yes, these were the folks working as ES workers who had, I think, at least three years experience. Hmmm. Now, until a few months ago we were paid overtime and also paid time and a half for working holidays. Noooooooo, there was no pay differential for working the late night shifts or weekends which seems pretty common in the market place. All of a sudden They decided that we would no longer be paid extra for working holidays and that we would no longer be allowed to work overtime. Again, pay attention here. This confuses even me and hey, it’s my job.

They say that we have to juggle the schedule, that is, if I work two hours over...then I need to come in two hours late at some point to avoid overtime. Hmmm.

OK. By the very nature of the job, we will work more hours than scheduled. Period. That's an absolute. As an example, we can be tied up as many as five hours working on one case. As an example, let's say I'm working a 4PM to midnight shift. Further, let's say that we get a police call at..hmmm...11:30PM. OK, we respond to all police calls immediately. Lots of reasons....one important one being that, there ain't that many officers out there Protecting and Serving. Yep, everyone is shorthanded.

Anyway, so I go. Let's say I work on the case until 2:30AM.

You really need to pay attention here....... OK, a shift is 8 hours. Sooooooo, I have now worked two hours over, which means that I need to come in two hours later on a shift to make everything OK. Really pay attention now... OK, let's say I'm employee A. Now, so that I can come in late on my next 4PM shift, employee B worked from 8AM until 6PM. Hey, OK. That solves the problem. Well, now employee B has worked overtime so he or she must come in two hours late on a shift or leave two hours early. Folks, I'm sure you've gotten it by now. No more on this one.

More good stuff coming.

We have folks who work part-time. Though I could be wrong on this one, it's my understanding that they get paid time and a half for holidays. Hmmm. What can I say. Part time workers get paid more than full time workers. I guess They think it's OK.

Another good one. We have a worker who was full time with ES (grandfathered in...no masters) who decided the grass was greener and took another job in our agency. The person soon realized, Hey, I want back in ES. Again, listen carefully, no I'm not a magician...and I doubt there's magic going on here....sooooooooooooooo, this person says, Hey, I screwed-up...I made a bad decision. Let me back.

Well, THEY (yes, the old they) said, No way Jose, you don't have a masters degree. But, your Excellency, I'm certified. Serf, we don't care. But, we will allow you to work for us part-time.

Your Excellency, why is it that I can work part-time, needing the same credentials, but can't work full time.

How dare you question our decision. Anymore outburst and we'll boil you in oil...or something.

OK. Back to the no overtime policy. Yes, another one that you need to pay attention..... The person who was full time, quit and took another full time position in the agency? Remember? OK. He is full time at his job....and, he can work part time in ES. How does that work? We can't work over time...but, he has full time job and then works more hours in ES....the time that he works in ES is surely over the time of a full time schedule in the person's regular job. Is that not over time??? Hey, maybe this is all a dream...nightmare...or, something....

All of this would seem to bring a new meaning to twisted logic........