Anyone who lives on Regina’s streets knows all too well how cold it can get. That includes Victor.
But luckily, his friends at Carmichael Outreach are there to keep an eye on him.
“(Victor) had a stint in the hospital with pneumonia a little while ago, and we’ve really noticed a downhill in his health,” said Carmichael Outreach executive director Danielle Goulden.
On Thursday it became clear there was something very wrong. When Victor came to Carmichael Outreach, his jeans were soaked with urine and feces.
“He had soiled himself beyond our capacity to help him from a health concern,” Goulden said. “We’re a drop in centre.”
She called several agencies for help including the provincial government’s HealthLine, mobile crisis and EMS. Goulden said all of them referred her to someone else.
“It was just a circle,” she said. “It was kind of circling around Victor.”
Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region said there are options, including medical and detox centres and the hospital.
“9-1-1 is always a good back up and we’ll always respond,” said RQHR EMS and ambulatory care executive director Glen Perchie. “But in some cases it’s really not a medical emergency. It’s about how we get the right services for those patients.”
At the end of the day Victor was taken to hospital, but Goulden said her fear is people are falling through the cracks.
“We have a lot of cases like victor who are physically deteriorating from being on the streets for so long,” Goulden said.
On Dec. 4, a man was found frozen to death in Prince Albert. The incident has shelters once again talking about how to keep everyone out of the elements.
“We don’t turn anybody away,” said Salvation Army executive director Ben Lippers. “We try to find them a spot. We will call (mobile) crisis, but they’re not left high and cold.”
A 20 bed shelter expansion is in the works at The Salvation Army, and the hope is to go one step further.
“We have been in discussions to do an extreme weather shelter,” Lippers explained.
Goulden just hopes all the shelters and drop in centers can work together to find a solution.
“Whether that means a facility with emergency bedding that has a home care service, maybe a home care nurse is there every night,” she said.
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