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| Member |
Just finished a night shift in the ER. Barely a day goes by without having an OD on drugs. My partner that I relieved unsuccessfully resuscitated a 30ish year old man after an OD. Then early this morning I have a patient who EMS brings in after a car crash. Minor injuries, sore neck. I call them "chicken wrecks"-- necks, backs, and wings. Anyway, this lady was acting as if she was on something, but the investigating deputy didn't have enough to arrest her on scene. Well, get her x-rays done, the "friends " who were with her abruptly leave, and now we find her in the room unconscious, with some fresh track marks to go along with all the others. Had to give her Narcan. Damned if she didn't OD RIGHT IN MY FRIGGIN ER!! I'm at the point of thinking we should put a tattooed "Narcan" on their foreheads. They get one chance. After that, it's "Sorry. Darwin says nope, you lose!!" Sorry for the "I've been up all night taking care of stupid idiots " rant. | ||
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| Member |
Thank you for the work you do. I feel much the same about heroin addicts, then I remember that it is someone's sister, brother, son, daughter, etc and am thankful that we have the science to give them another chance to clean up. If they don't clean up, they will be gone soon enough. It's really their families that I feel worst for. | |||
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Membership has its privileges |
I struggled with this when I was in EMT-B class. This was before heroin became the problem it is today. Our Instructor came into class and told us of a Pt. who had been given a 6th dose of Narcan over a few months. I said, are you kidding me? Why in the hell would you give someone more than one shot at a second chance. My Instructor explained to me that it is not up to him to decide who gets a second, third or fourth chance at life. His job as a Medic is to use whatever he has at his disposal, to help the Pt in front of him. He also explained that Heroin is not just a drug that dirtbags use. He told us at the time that it is everywhere and if it is not in our neighborhood, it will be soon (this was in 2010). Shortly after that, I started to see this epidemic hit some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the area. There were kids, my Son's age who were using, some survived, some did not. Addiction is something I do not completely understand, but as a Basic, I am required to do what I can, to help my Pt. I appreciate your frustration and I wish I had a good answer. Until I do have a good answer, Thank You for what you do. Niech Zyje P-220 Steve | |||
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Man of few words |
This epidemic has hit close to home for me as well. In 2016 I lost 2 neighbors; one directly to the left of me (he was 43) and one directly across the street from me (he was 39) to heroin. We live in a very good neighborhood in a working class, but very nice city. The neighbor to the left of me left behind 2 daughters, aged 9 and 13 and a new wife and the neighbor across the street from me left behind his 73 year old father; who is battling cancer and horrible shingles. Not only that, the son (who died) stole over $10,000 from his dad prior to OD'ing. | |||
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| Member |
Thank you for your support!! I got some sleep, and am less cranky now! I'm usually pretty compassionate, but this is getting way out of hand. Not even a few hours after the ME takes away the body of the deceased, this happens right under our noses. Certainly pray and hope for the best of the people affected by addiction, and their loved ones, but it's going to take more than that to solve this scourge. Again, thanks for letting me vent! | |||
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| Member |
People are dropping like flies. People know they are putting death into their arms but they just can't help themselves. | |||
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| Freethinker |
I had hardly heard of fentanyl, and now it’s carfentanil. Are you seeing either of those opiates? ► 6.4/93.6 “Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.” — Plato | |||
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| Membership has its privileges |
We have been seeing it cut with both, over the last year. This area has been specifically hard hit with the deadly combo. People have no idea. Niech Zyje P-220 Steve | |||
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| In the yahd, not too fah from the cah  |
Carfentanil is the synthetic version of regular fentanyl, it's much stronger and therefor causing more overdoses. The same as when regular heroin started getting cut with standard fentanyl, which was causing a spike in overdoses. The problem is, when someone overdoses and dies, the other uses seek out the dealer who sold to them. Because they know that he has the good stuff. | |||
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| Member |
I have seen the heroin epidemic up close since the late 60's. It is far worse today, but dead is dead no matter when or where. Back in the late 60's the heroin was primarily from Asia and fairly poor quality unless you were a dealer. Then you might get some half decent product which you immediately stepped on and sold to support your habit. Nonetheless it still killed folks if taken in sufficient quantities and combined with other drugs. Today almost all heroin is coming from Mexico which is now one of the largest growers of poppies in the world. The quality is superb due to the cartels understanding of addiction and how to profit from it. It is my hope that Mr. Trump will be able to control the border and choke off the supply at it's source, Mexico. The devastation from the uncontrolled flow of heroin, cocaine, and crystal meth is destroying so many families it is epidemic. In the 60's my childhood best friend od'd and died at the age of 27. I saved his life numerous times and one time he was with another individual and they shot up some home made garbage. He passed out, went into convulsions, the other guy left him where he drowned on his own vomit. His older brother also died from heroin. He stole from a dealer in San Francisco, they found him floating in San Francisco Bay with his head bashed in. All for heroin. To this day I ask myself the same question, Why. Why can't they stop? Why can't America stop the flow of drugs entering our country? Why do so many families have to suffer? WHY? | |||
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Member |
I live in quintessential small-town New England. Average HS graduating class is between 100-150 kids. I've personally gone on just shy of a dozen ODs within the last 6 months, fortunate enough to have been a part of a couple of saves. Most don't turn out that way. You do tend to end up at the same places a few times. Eventually, they'll all roll a 7 and it'll no longer be an issue. But until then, we have to go and we have to help. My favorite is the ass clowns that try to fight you when you hit them with the narcan. "You ruined my high maaaaaan", no, we saved your fucking life. Now sit back, shut the fuck up and enjoy the ride until we can dump you off at the hospital only for you to get discharged within the hour to head home and get another hit. ________________________ | |||
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| MEMBER |
That tattoo should read "Narcaned" | |||
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| Grandiosity is a sign of mental illness |
Because people want it. They can't keep drugs from getting into prisons, and that's about the most controlled environment around. You can only do so much to protect people from themselves, from what they want. About 20 years ago the brother of a friend of mine OD'ed and died. A tragedy for the family. But no surprise. The brother was smart, from a good family, had friends... and was always doing something self-destructive. If not for drugs, he would have found some other way. At least this way he didn't take a carload of kids with him in a drunken wreck. | |||
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| Member |
Have you found in your experiences that legal prescription opiate use, and eventual abuse, leads to addiction, and then to heroin use? I've heard this "gateway" story but I'm not sure I believe it. The only opiate I've ever had was Demerol injections for pain relief when I was in the hospital for abdominal surgery. But I did get a little understanding of what opiates feel like and I remember watching the clock until the next pain relief shot would be given. I can barely imagine what the really powerful opiates must be like... | |||
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| Member |
I love it when you get one overdosing, you give Narcan, save their life, and then 10 seconds later they're cursing/spitting/throwing punches at you because you ruined their high. Oh the irony  | |||
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| Member |
I see it first hand. Here in South Florida, we were the pill mill capital of the world. People from as far as Kentucky would drive down to get 1000s of oxycontins from pill mills. But lots of locals did too, from what I've heard the pills have really dried up and the cost on them has skyrocketed, so now you see a lot of those people using heroin instead. Add to that, there is a rehab clinic on virtually every street corner here, where junkies are shipped down from all over the country, they get here, 95% of them get back on drugs while they're here, leave the rehab facility and are now stuck here and never go back home.....it's a mess here. I just took a class with 2 paramedics teaching it and we got on the subject during break. The guy told me it's so bad that the week before they got a call of this 40 something year old junkie that lived with his mom and overdosed for the 4th time this paramedic has been called out to him and this time died, on their way back to the station, they get another call and it's a 27 year old girl who snorted heroin while sitting in a parking lot in the passanger seat of her truck and O.D. ed and they saved her with Narcan. 2 calls for O.D. in less than an hour and this is just one set of paramedics in a very large city/area South Florida. | |||
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Fighting the good fight |
That seems to be one of the primary drivers of the recent boom in heroin use. There's been a huge crachdown on Rx opiates over the past several years, so all our opiate users can't get their Hydro/Oxy/etc. as readily now, and they've turned to heroin since it's cheaper and easier to get. | |||
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| Member |
I heard the other day that currently Heroin is actually cheaper to get than Marijuana, apparently. ________________________ | |||
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| Member |
Yes and so strong now that snorting it or smoking it gives people a very good high. I think a lot more people are willing to try it in those forms, get addicted and then they all eventually go the needle. In Sunday's newspaper it stated that someone dies every two hours in South Florida from a heroin overdose, South Florida is only 3 counties- Miami Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach.This message has been edited. Last edited by: jimmy123x, | |||
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| Peace through superior firepower  |
My question is why bother? Just let them go. It's what they want. | |||
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