Injured
The Homeless on Hospitals…
Recently, especially in the Golden Triange BID, there’s been a large number of clients in need of medical attention. Whether this is due to a skin disease, broken bones, or severe sanitation issues, often these people go without assistance for long periods of times. There are a multitude of reasons for this, all of which are frustruating for an outreach worker.
Many don’t have any type of health insurance, and for that reason stay away from hospitals altogether.
Others have been thrown out of hospitals for disorderly conduct, or for demanding treatment when exibiting hypochondria, and aren’t necessarily welcome back.
Then there are those with mental health issues, who believe the hospital is a dangerous place or that doctors and nurses are out to get them.
Whatever the reason, there is a homeless population out there that doesn’t get commited to the hospital in times of true illness and injury, and this can turn extremely dangerous very quickly.
Just this winter I tore a few ligaments in my ankle, and was unable to walk for at least a week. With medical attention, xrays, and an aircast, the problem was quickly diagnosed and the solution to a healthy recovery was presented to me. I was also warned, however, how dangerous it was if I chose not to comply with the healing process. If I had continued to half-walk on my ankle, insted of leaving it for a month, the injury could turn permanent and much more serious.
This warning is all I can think about when we observe a client who is trying to walk on a broken knee, or who continues to sleep outside with a flu. Because many of our clients stay away from the hospital for one reason or another, they don’t get the warnings and advice, as well as material help, that is essential to their recovery. In fact, they could just as likely be injuring themselves to a greater extent by continuing to go on with their regular pattern.
This result from the lack of medical attention is what scares me about these clients we see in the BID. Often we send doctors out into the field to check them out, or in extreme cases FD-12 them, (a forceful trip to the hospital). But for mild enough cases of illness or injury, often the only solution we have is to wait until it turns worse, when the clients are a risk to themsleves or others. It is then when the government steps in and FD-12-ing is necessary.
Overall, when clients don’t visit the hospital and they have a threatening condition, we’re stuck in a catch-22. There’s little we can do for a client in need who doesn’t want to be helped until their situation turns critical, and by then it’s often too late.
