Top photo: Police and rescue responded to West Main Street yesterday to help an intoxicated young woman who could no longer walk without falling into the bushes, and at one point down an embankment… She was eventually transported to CCH.

HYANNIS – Within in any given hour, police and rescue receive calls related to the downtrodden, disenfranchised, mentally ill, alcoholic, or drug addicted – often encountering helpless souls with a serious share of each of the above…

… yesterday wasn’t any different.

For most of these people, police and fire personnel are the last and only ones who will give them a hand when they’re quite literally down and out.

Despite the seemingly never ending calls regarding people down in the streets, parks, inside 24 hour tellers, or behind dumpsters, first responders in the downtown area handle it in stride and with a tremendous amount of compassion.

Also, the daily dealing with drug overdoses and the suicidal are another part of each typical tour of duty.

While it’s true most first responders survive by developing a thick skin, the very well seasoned have also seemingly been worn to an almost perfect state of equanimity.

It’s my hypothesis, that while their job may necessarily make one more hardened to some degree, it may also, more importantly, make one more compassionate and understanding as time wears on. Also, the professionals who somehow manage to embrace that seem to live happier and more fulfilling lives from what I’ve observed. In fact, it’s the actual ability to consistently and altruistically rise to such calls for service which may actually bring a definitive degree of sanity to their stressful profession.

(It’s particularly challenging for police, who on the very next call may have to switch gears from being a compassionate rescuer to having to answer violence with reasonable force… Which is a completely different aspect of their roll… requiring much more explanation.)

The long and short of it is… Hyannis can be proud of the numerous sincerely dedicated men and women who kindly answer these types of calls for service day after day.

Above photo: West Main Street — A police officer approaches an intoxicated disoriented 27-year-old female, who had also been crying for her mother, and worried about what was going to happen now that the police were involved… The officer reassured her they were there to help.

Above photo: East End, on Main Street — A police officer checks on the wellbeing of a middle aged woman after receiving reports she was lying down in the roadway. When he spoke with her she managed to get up and remain on the sidewalk all by herself. He monitored her for a short time and determined, for the time being, no further action was needed…

Above photo [intentionally obscured]: Police and rescue responded to a Hyannis apartment complex for a nude woman who was in the lobby and would not move. Officers made sure the older woman was quickly covered with a blanket, and rescue discretely loaded her into an ambulance and transported her to CCH for further evaluation.

**** All of the above images illustrate very typical routine calls for a Hyannis patrol officer or fire department rescue worker…

10/7/2014

Robert Bastille,


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P.S. – Today's HyTown Vignette is brought to you by Kiss... (Note: While it may not fully cure you, it will likely do very little harm...) [Blast it]

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