Unceded Coast Salish Territory, November 3, 2011 – On the morning of Thursday November 3rd, a man suffered an overdose at the site of the Occupy Vancouver camp. Within 30 seconds of the man being found, a trained medic and Occupy Vancouver participant from the First Aid tent administered CPR. After a full round of CPR, the man's pulse was restored.
Members of the Fire Department came quickly on scene, and within 3 to 5 minutes an ambulance arrived. The man was conscious when the ambulance left Occupy Vancouver and is recovering in hospital.
Occupier Jay Peachy emphasized that "if this man had overdosed anywhere else in Vancouver, as so many people do every week in this city, he would not have received such timely and effective medical attention."
A distraught friend of the victim was upset by a reporter asking questions as her friend was being loaded onto the ambulance. It is unfortunate that this response was characterized as a political reaction to the media, when in truth it was a profoundly personal moment of trauma for this individual.
Occupy Vancouver, in solidarity with other city occupations, has come together to transform the unequal, unfair, and growing disparity in the distribution of power and wealth in our city and around the globe. We challenge corporate greed, corruption, and the collusion between corporate power and government, and oppose systemic inequality, militarization, environmental destruction, and the erosion of civil liberties and human rights. We seek economic security, genuine equality, and the protection of the environment for all.
We are not leaving. Come join us. Everyone is welcome.
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For more information:
Press Liaison
Occupy Vancouver
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http://www.occupyvancouver.com/index.php?page=5
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