Four young patients from the Philippe Pinel Institute attempted a mutiny in the courtyard on Wednesday evening, which required the intervention of about fifteen employees who were still in shock.
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“The teenage girls tore down the shed, dismantled the grill to make skewers and took the propane tanks and lighters. They threatened to blow up the place,” says the head of the institute’s workers’ union, Marie-Ève Desormeaux.
The Juvenile Section Court was in a “state of siege” as twelve pacification and security specialists (IPS), as well as some facility managers, police officers and firefighters from the City of Montreal, were urgently mobilized.
The intervention put the entire wing at risk, so that only three people without personnel had to ensure the safety of the fourteen other units, emphasizes Ms. Desormeaux.
escalation
Local 2960 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees had already informed the employer on Wednesday of the escalation of tensions within the department affected by the attack.
Two weeks ago, two of the four teenagers involved staged a similar riot by scaling the shed to escape.
Union members had informed managers that barbecuing was dangerous and the shed was not up to code.
In July, two employees had to be transported to the hospital after two violent attacks in a single day. Two young people from the unit had also hatched an escape plan.
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“The more things happen, the greater the escalation, the more endangering the workers and the patients themselves,” says Ms. Desormeaux, where the employer simply has no regard for staff safety.
In 2018, four emergency services were injured in an attack. Since then, the Institute has still not implemented the recommendations subsequently made by the Commission on Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work, she regrets.
The institute is severely affected by the shortage of health workers and is struggling with a high turnover rate, adds Ms. Désormeaux.
“If there is a shortage of employees, we have to act accordingly, maybe we have too many departments for the number of employees?” she asks.
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