Arthur Gasparrini, my old partner from over twenty years ago, passed away this week at the age of 80. I’d lost touch with many years ago, only occasionally hearing updates. About ten years ago, I’d heard he’d had a stroke and was living in Florida. The obituary said he was living in Indiana. He was…
Author: medicscribe
Joe Magarac, Man of Steel
When I was a new paramedic, I wanted to be the greatest paramedic ever. I took pride in never missing work. When I was at work, if I got a late call, I didn’t care. I welcomed it in fact. Cardiac arrest five minutes before my out time, send me! I took as many overtime…
Xylazine Decreases Overdose Deaths?
Could it be that xylazine, the latest hyped scourge of the opioid epidemic, might possibly lead to fewer opioid deaths instead of more? The story line has been that xylazine potentiates the effects of fentanyl making the two drugs together a lethal combo. And there is no doubt that the two drugs have been found…
Letter to a New Preceptee
I wrote Letter to a New Preceptee back in 2007. It holds true to this day. You are probably excited and apprehensive about starting your preceptorship. I know I was many years ago when it was my turn. I wondered whether I would make it – whether I was cut out for this job, whether…
Baby Killers
Last week my partner and I were called Baby Killers on a call. We haven’t been the only crew to have names shouted at us in the last two weeks. This all stems from a news story about a delayed ambulance response — the implication being if the ambulance had arrived quickly the patient would…
Outcry
An ambulance is late. Someone dies. There is public outcry. Calls for an investigation. If you want to understand how this could happen, here are some questions you will want answered. Who provides ambulance coverage in your town. It is a full-time municipal service with pensioned employees. Is it a volunteer service? Or does the…
Thief
It’s been a bad year for EMS. Between the Illinois crew charged with first degree murder for their treatment of a man in alcohol withdrawal who died of restraint asphyxia to the new story of the Shameless paramedic filmed stealing £60 from woman, 94, moments after she collapsed and DIED, it has not been a…
Testify
On March 22, 2023, the Connecticut Public Health Committee held a hearing on a series of bills it was debating. One of the bills was to create pilot overdose prevention sites in Connecticut. Two hundred and seventeen people signed up to speak that day on a variety of issues, but a good many of them…
OTC Naloxone
The illicit drug supply in America today is as dangerous as it has ever been. Fentanyl, badly mixed into $4 bags, cross contaminated into cocaine or hidden in counterfeit pills, is poisoning our people, This week the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a Naloxone nasal spray for over-the-counter (OTC) sales. This is a tremendous step toward…
Skill Creep
I am proud to be a paramedic. I believe paramedics save lives. If I or one of my family members were critically ill, I would want a seasoned paramedic taking care of me rather than a brand new basic EMT. When I say paramedic, i mean that in the sense of a health care provider…
Xylazine Hysteria
“XYLAZINE, A DEADLY SKIN-ROTTING ZOMBIE DRUG, OFTEN MIXED W FENTANYL, IS ON THE DOORSTEP …ALREADY FUELING A HORRIFIC WAVE OF OVERDOSES.”” America has a history of hysteria over the drug war. From Reefer Madness to the insanity of telling people they could die from just touching fentanyl or that dealers are giving rainbow fentanyl to…
2022 CT Overdose Deaths: Pause, Plateau or True Decline?
The state Office of the Medical Examiner yesterday released the final overdose deaths numbers for 2022, showing a 4.7% decrease in all overdose deaths and a 5.2% decrease in opioid deaths. This is better news than another increase but is still 5.7% above the 2020 overdose death number and 5.1% above the 2020 number for…
Siren’s Call
I went home injured a couple weeks ago. This wasn’t the first time I was injured on the job, but the first time I couldn’t finish a shift. How it happened is embarrassing. I coughed and didn’t splint myself properly. I pulled a muscle in my lower back on the left side. I couldn’t bend…
Opioid Overdose: How to Recognize and Treat
In this post, I will explain how opioids affect the brain, what steps you should take to reverse an overdose, how naloxone works and where it can be obtained, and what to do in the immediate aftermath of overdose. How Opioids Kill Opioids kill by shutting down our breathing or slowing it to a rate…
Fentanyl: What You Need to Know
The third and deadliest wave of the opioid epidemic began in 2013 with the increasing adulteration of the heroin supply with illegally produced fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid manufactured in laboratories. Fentanyl was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1968. It is a pain killer, with a rapid onset and a…
Discharge Instructions
I recently had a patient who still had his discharge papers on him from a recent trip to the ED following an overdose. The instructions were fairly simple. Please do not use fentanyl again. If you are looking for any sponsors or help we do recommend that you purse Narcotics Anonymous. He admitted that he…
The Frontlines (Hartford) – Fentanyl
I participated in a powerful documentary about the Fentanyl epidemic in Hartford. The documentary is part of the Frontlines docuseries by Kennard Ray exploring life in Hartford. It focuses on the frontline harm reduction workers and their clients in the battle to keep people alive.
War Stories
I joined Twitter a year or so ago, and while I am not crazy for the app, every now and then, there is a really good thread. Recently I found one started by HighPerformance EMS. One of the greatest privileges of this job is having conversations with your patients who have lived amazing lives. There…
The Dark Places
Two paramedics in Illinois were charged with first degree murder of their patient, a 35-year-old man reportedly experiencing alcohol withdrawal. The paramedics did not put a Berretta to the man’s head and pull the trigger nor did they stab him repeatedly with a Bowie knife. Police body camera footage shows they were rude to him,…
Heroes
The on-field cardiac arrest of 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin on Monday Night Football captured the attention of our sports-watching nation. The TV producers were hailed for their decision not to continually reshow the clip or show closeups of the rescue on the field. I understand medical privacy rights and as a working paramedic…