Should Paramedics get body armor/ protective vests?

If we are going that far, the bus driver's should not have the body armour but consideration should be looked at for shields similar to those in the taxi cabs here in Winnipeg.
If you were a front line service worker dealing with the most dangerous and often unpredictable people in this city and are being paid by the City of Winnipeg then I would think that your employer would want you to be protected. It costs a lot less to protect your employees than to pay out disablility/death benefits and then retrain new employees if "accidents" happen on the job.
Realizing this may be a far fetched exaggeration but I would think that if it were you on the front line Dean, you and your spouse and children would want you as safe as you could possibly be. In this ever increasingly violent society we live in, where criminals can go to the corner and buy a gun for $20.00, why shouldn't we protect those who are meant to protect us from harm?

holy frick people.

I never said I was against this. I said I wanted some facts damn it!...

And yes actually I support the shields for bus drivers because it was made quite evident it was actually needed.

lol This forum loves the word "frick"

Actually it is a default when someone tries to use the "F" word...

I agree with Holly if it were someone I cared about then what is the big deal .

Next step...they'll want some sort of 'danger pay'.

Bartron wrote:lol This forum loves the word "frick"

Frick is a stupid word. I liberally use frick but all the fricking time, it comes up frick and quite honestly, I find it fricking annoying.

Yeah, but what can be done about it? C'mon, offer solutions not complaints...

grumpy old man wrote:Actually it is a default when someone tries to use the "F" word...

LOL That makes a lot more sense now . Sometimes I'm a little slow eh.

I am all for it. I think protecting these people who save lives is important. Paramedics in other places have been killed in the line of duty. Just because it has not happened here , doesn't mean we shouldn't prepare. Winnipeg is getting more and more violent.

Parking patrol people should also have protective vests and visors then.

For very different reasons eh? Nobody likes the parking patrol.

Next time you are having a heart attack in the North End call the parking patrol...

Have the paramedics ever arrived before the police in a call to the north end? Just wondering.

I really can't say in all certainty, but I recall reading that paramedics and fire personnel are often the first to arrive on the scene of crimes. I believe it happens quite frequently.

But it is not just crime scenes where these people are in harms way. They are often the onliest peeps on the scene of a drug overdose. And on scenes where mentally unstable peeps are out of control...

...and I've heard that in the inner city, they won't arrive til there are cops on site. (I've heard it from cops and have seen it in West Broadway.)

JTF wrote:Have the paramedics ever arrived before the police in a call to the north end? Just wondering.

Many times paramedics are called to deal with people who are passed out , and a cruiser is not dispatched during those times. The way the north end is going these days, it might be a good idea to wear body armor if you live there.

JTF wrote:...and I've heard that in the inner city, they won't arrive til there are cops on site. (I've heard it from cops and have seen it in West Broadway.)

I understand there is a protocol that preclude paramedics and firefighters from attending crime scenes until the police have arrived and stabilized things.

I think we've discussed this no???

Yup. Paramedics won't go till the police are there.

Here is reason enough in my mind for the transit authority to equip their drivers with some sort of protective gear. And this is not the first time this type of incident has happened?

http://www.winnipegsun.com/news/winnipeg/2009/08/20/10533851.html

Transit drivers are attacked quite routinely. Most of the time it does not make the news.

How about charging the little prick and keep in mind that he used a "firearm". Be creative in the sentence, like having him swamp out hte buses on Friday and Saturday evenings for the next 2 months.If anyone else was in the car, same applies to them.