Raindogblue

When You Decriminalize Drugs

 

A mope called dispatch and complained to me his meth contained Fentanyl. He OD'd and was narcaned back, but swore he real vice is alcohol. 

 

 

Number Two

 

Second overdose of the night, a block east of the first,

a Street Response medic is administering Narcan.

He bags the man. I assist.

 

Soaked in sweat, the man rouses as the ambulance arrives.

He jumps and shouts, "I shit myself?"

 

I ask, You OD'd. Do you want aid?

 

Wild eyed, he shouts, "I shit myself!

" as he runs into the night. 

 

As the local transients clean up the scene,

only the man's outline, made by sweat,

is evaporating from the sidewalk,

remains as evidence of a man nearly dying. 

 

 

 

OD Down

 

 

Off 5th, an OD is down; his face, the color of blueberry yogurt, soaked in ripples of sweat and doused in cold water. His eyes are rolled back. His breath is thin.

Five narcan applicators are litter around him. I give him sixth, see the vomit in the corner of his mouth and nostrils, and roll him into a rescue position. All the Narcan pours out, and then the vomit. 

Medics arrive, inject Narcan in his arm. Working on clearing the air way, they apply suction and intubate. The vomit clears, but then blood begins pouring out. 

The man's body spasms.

Fire fighters jump in the ambulance to help the paramedics en route to the hospital. He's coding. 

At the ER, I drop off the man's wheelchair to see the a team working him him furiously. 

 

 

 

Duly Noted

 

Under Serenity, a Chad rolls up and says, "Um, uh, I don't know if it was a toy, but five kids up the street where playing with an AR-47. I just thought you should know."

 

 

Off the High

 

On a stoop, three Narcans in, the woman begins to snort, then breathe.

When she rouses, I tell her, "This is the police. You overdosed. Medical is here."

She replies, "Fuck you!"

 

 

What Feeds Under the Bridge

 

Under the Serenity Bridge, off Harbor, I've climbed down a ladder to circumvent an iron wrought fence to confirm a man down is dead.

In a tent, ice pipes at hand, he likely died of an OD. Less than a day down, the rats have gnawed off the flesh from his right foot, nibbled on his left, started on his nose and chewed off a chunk of his thumb.  

As the sun sets, as Conquistador, Till, and I wait for the M.E, the rats emerge, circle, watch, and wait. 

 

 

First Day

 

Yesterday, I had a trainee It was his first day on the street. He was hired in September. Our first call was a double homicide.

 

 

Fire Calls

 

Per the Fire Department, in 2022 there were 1959 “homeless-related fires.”

That number is 41 percent of city’s fires. 

Mac

 

Mac's on the ground, three doses of Narcan and chest compressions, have brought him to edge of breathing.

As his lips turn blue, I insert another spray up his nose. His breathing grow and becomes regular. The size of his pupils increase.

When medics arrive, he able to stir and stand.

He tells them he had stopped using for 18 days. He used his regular dose. His tolerance atrophied and it almost killed him.

On the 4th Floor, Above the High Street

 

Tonight's OD had hidden a chisel and shiv between his butt cheeks.