Woman dies at Occupy Vancouver site
A female, who is believed to be in her 20s, died late Saturday afternoon at Occupy Vancouver in what Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services are calling a “medical emergency.”
The woman was found unresponsive around 4:30 p.m. and was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
VFRS spokesman Capt. Gabe Roder confirmed the woman who died was in a tent, but it is unknown whether she was a resident of the tent city.
Witnesses report a chaotic scene outside the Vancouver Art Gallery Saturday around 5 p.m. At least two ambulances responded to the art gallery grounds.
Chris Shaw, 61, was the first medic to respond to the woman in question. He reportedly found the woman in a tent bordering Howe Street without a pulse.
Shaw, a former Army medic, along with two other Occupy medics performed CPR for 10 minutes while they awaited the arrival of an ambulance.
Shaw said he didn’t know if it was an overdose or not, but they don’t know how long she was unresponsive because the woman had been in the tent alone.
Police and rescue officials are also unsure of the cause of death.
“We don’t know if it’s an overdose,” Roder said.
On Thursday, a man overdosed at the Occupy Vancouver tent city. Someone accompanying the man was able to call for help immediately and he survived.
Shaw said he hopes that this death does not bring condemnation of the Occupy site from the greater public. He said homeless people with substance abuse issues are being given better treatment at the Occupy site than they are in the city’s shelters and streets.
VPD officers as well as the Forensic Identification Squad are processing the scene, which is currently closed with police barriers.
More to come…