Saskatoon patrol group keeping people safe during extreme heat
With high temperatures again this week, one local street patrol group is expecting to be busy.
The Okihtcitawak Patrol in Pleasant Hill has been faced with some unique challenges so far this summer with the extreme temperatures.
The group works year round helping those who are out on the streets or out and about in the neighbourhood.
One of the staff, Delano Kennedy, said they have been dealing with an increase in needle pick ups over the past year but have shifted focus since the temperatures increased.
“We make sure people are hydrated, making sure they’re not going through heat exhaustion or if they’re experiencing heat stroke. This heat wave is really something,” Kennedy told CTV News.
Kennedy along with about 30 volunteers are now carrying extra water and freezies to help people deal with the heat.
“People sleeping out in the front street or in the alley or sleeping directly out in the sun so we have to wake them up … make sure they’re not going through a heat stroke.”
Storm Night grew up in Pleasant Hill and has been volunteering with the group for the past year and says the reaction they get from people in the community is rewarding.
The group helps between 20 and 50 people every day.
“We’ve caught people sleeping on the sidewalk, sleeping under trees and we want to make sure they don’t get heat stroke or dehydration so we make sure we will pay attention to that and check on them.
“We have a few people that we regularly check on and we know where they stay so we’ll go see them and make sure they’re all doing OK,” Storm Night said.
The patrol group also hands out hygiene products, granola bars and they carry naloxone kits in case of an overdose.
Kennedy says, they don’t receive formal funding so welcome any donations.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.