Letter to the Editor

from the Oregonian

Mace, baton, fists, feet first

I work in a busy Portland emergency department that sees many psychiatric patients in crisis. I have often had to help restrain patients, and in one instance disarm a woman who had a knife. It can be a harrowing experience.

Nevertheless, I find it hard to understand how an experienced sergeant could not find a way to use non-lethal force to defend himself against a 49-year-old schizophrenic woman with a knife. His adversary was not a well-conditioned martial-arts expert.

People with severe mental illness are not particularly known for being in top shape. Where was the Mace, the baton, his fists and his feet? That he believed shooting this woman was his only option is a sad commentary on this sergeant's training.

That this woman had reached such a state of crisis is an indication of our failing safety net for mental health patients -- but then, that's another letter.

DAVID PEASLEE, M.D. Lake Oswego