5 minute read
Cops Corner
from OBO 03 25 21
COVID-19 pandemic takes toll on Volusia’s mental health
The number of people seeking counseling, other services, soared in 2020, early 2021.
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ADVENTHEALTH COMMUNICATIONS
The number of people who need mental health care is rising across the community, part of an expected delayed effect of the nation’s yearlong battle with the COVID-19 pandemic, said Dr. Luis Allen, a psychiatrist, at the AdventHealth Morning Briefing on March 18.
“Sometimes we equate it to what we see in time of war,” said Allen, director of the Behavioral Health Center at AdventHealth Orlando. “Now the war is coming close to an end — we are not there yet, so we can’t let down our guard — and now is when we’re starting to see come to the surface more of the consequences of what we’ve seen over the last year.”
The number of people seeking counseling over telehealth at IMPOWER, a community nonprofit that provides behavioral health services, jumped 96% over the past year, said Anna Kesic, president and CEO of IMPOWER, who joined Allen on the morning briefing.
While the need for mental health support is expected to continue, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at AdventHealth hospitals in Central Florida continued to drop this week.
Allen said that was a good sign, though people must continue to take precautions such as wearing masks, washing hands and keeping socially distant.
He said people experiencing changes in their sleep patterns or eating or drinking habits, should potentially seek help for their mental wellness. He noted the longer one waits to find treatment, the longer that treatment is likely to take.
Allen and Kesic expressed specific concern for seniors, who have often been isolated over the last 12 months as well as children who have experienced school disruptions. “Now the war is coming close to an end — we are not there yet, so we can’t let down our guard — and now is when we’re starting to see come to the surface more of the consequences of what we’ve seen over the last year.”
DR. LUIS ALLEN, psychiatrist
MARCH 13
BAC NEVER LIES
2:11 a.m. — First block of Fluhart Drive DUI. Police arrested a 22-year-old man from Massachusetts who was involved in a single-vehicle crash while drunk driving. He told police he had been trying to get to his hotel in Orlando, and that he began his trip at “Greek Church Something,” according to his arrest report.
The reporting officer noted that the man was unsteady on his feet and that he smelled like alcohol. He declined to perform field sobriety exercises, citing the fact he had just gone through a car crash. Based on the officer’s observations until that point, he was placed under arrest for driving under influence and transported to the Police Department.
Once there, the man could not tell police what city or county he was in. He advised that the last thing he had eaten were some Cheez-Its and Wheat Thins the previous morning, and that he had drank three beers during the day but that his last drink had been at 3:30 p.m.
The blood alcohol content level captured in his breath test said otherwise. He was taken to jail.
OUT OF THIS WORLD
9:45 p.m. — 1100 block of North U.S. 1 Information. Police responded to a local bar after receiving a call about a battery that occurred between two men. When they arrived at the scene, they found one of the men, but he refused to speak to them.
The man told them that he “doesn’t live in our world,” and that he didn’t talk to cops, the report states. Needless to say, he declined to provide a statement.
Other law enforcement officers at the scene told the reporting officer that, before he arrived, the man told a coworker that he had been hit with a wrench and fired from his job. The bar manager told police that the incident hadn’t occurred at the bar, but on Lowndes Avenue, which is under county jurisdiction.
MARCH 15
DOLLAR WOES
10:16 a.m. —1100 block of West Granada Boulevard Fraud. A manager of a local fast food establishment called police after she received a counterfeit $20 bill from a customer.
The manager told police that a man had come in and asked for three cookies and a gift card. Initially, he handed over a real $20 bill to pay for the cookies. It was when he asked for a gift card that he produced the fake bill.
The manager immediately noticed it was fake, according to the report, and the man told her he had just received it after making a purchase in another store. The manager said she would have to call police, and the man became nervous and was “visibly shaking.” He then fled on foot.
Police were unable to locate him.
Halifax Health reports record number of trauma patients during 2021 Bike Week
Preliminary numbers released on March 17, regarding the number of trauma patients treated at Halifax Health during Bike Week 2021 showed a doubling in statistics.
The total patients during Bike Week who experienced trauma and were admitted to Halifax Health numbered 150 in 2021. Of those admissions over the 10-day event, 91 were related to the event. This number compares with an average of 62 admissions over the last four years. The trauma team was activated 97 times during Bike Week 2021. Fourteen of the patients were passengers, and just under half of the patients were wearing helmets.
“Our community saw an unusual number of total patients needing trauma care during Bike Week,” said Lindsay Martin, director of nursing. “We had more than the usual amount of accidents at home and work places. At one point we had four patients needing trauma care at the same time.”
Halifax Health has the only trauma center in Volusia County and Flagler County and partners with the Volusia Sheriff’s Office to provide helicopter transport.
“Halifax Health was created to take care of the people of the community and that includes those visiting the community,” said Jeff Feasel, Halifax Health president and CEO.
