Dale is dead. He's not breathing. His face is blue. There's a cap at his shoulder, a needle at his elbow. He used a speaker cord as a tie-off.
I pull out the narcan from my med bag, remove the packaging, and put the expelling end in his nose. I press the plunger.
In a five count, Dale breathes. It's snorting, snoring breath, but he's breathing.
By the time fire arrives, I canned the rig and pulled his ID from his pocket.
They give him an IV and two more doses down the line.
Twenty-five minutes later, he's awake and talking, lucky his "date" called dispatch to keep him alive.
I know that this is part of the (your and my) jobs...but I always wonder, are we doing ANYONE a favor when we do this? I can make up use case scenarios all day long about lives saved and all kinds of warm & fuzzies, but the reality is usually colder, harsher and completely unrelenting. Most of the time we're just delaying the inevitable at a great cost to society.
Posted by: DaveS | June 08, 2022 at 11:07 AM
The other reality is that it's NOT my job to make the kind of decision I was referring to in the previous comment. We do our utmost to save ALL of them.
Posted by: DaveS | June 08, 2022 at 11:10 AM
@ DaveS
A coworker and I were discussing before this call. He had gone on a welfare check there the 80 year old man was naked in the lobby of his apartment, coming and going from the bathroom. The man was confused and had lost his keys to his apartment. Medical units were calls. The responder said the man was having serious GI issues and probably would have died in the night if he had not been found.
The coworker admitted, it was a three day save. He helped save a life until the next crisis the person encountered. It is the best you can do at the time.
As the man in the OD case, he is a vet living in vet housing. He apologized and was embarrassed. Yes, he might overdose tomorrow, but I did job that night. It makes a difference to every veteran on that hall and other people in the building.
It made a difference to his "date" and I thanked her for calling.
These people know I care and will do my business to sort matters out despite their faults.
To keep my humanity, I have to find small wins and I have to hope a person in a dark place, given time and guidance, will come back to the world and later be the person helping others.
Cheers,
RD
Posted by: RD | June 08, 2022 at 01:45 PM
@DaveS,
I also want to note, this blog is for glimpses of life, and police life, that many people never get to see.
Cheers,
RD
Posted by: RD | June 08, 2022 at 01:52 PM
Jesus! I couldn't do your job.
Posted by: fritz | June 09, 2022 at 07:01 PM