This is what overdose reversals means to me. An opportunity to save and change a life. By Chris Hancock

Raoul Bhatt

Published

6 years ago

8 minute read

Todayville Edmonton supports local community efforts, the original source of this writing from: https://www.facebook.com/justaguywithapack

The day has been like any other (we see anywhere from 50 to 80 users per day). My attention is piqued by a sound, almost like a wheeze but accompanied by the heavy beating sound of a drum. That sound is a man violently hitting his chest.

This is the beginning of an overdose.

The man is standing and rocking back and forth, almost like a dance. This is normal for a person who is using drugs mixed with crystal meth and / or cocaine.

I look at the computer to see what he says the drug is and it says “fentanyl” which is a usual drug for him.

He is now starting to sweat profusely and it looks as though he has just finished running a marathon.

I call the nurse and tell her of my observations so far. He is now matching a person who is starting the scary road of overdose.

I approach and place my hand on his shoulder, it’s hot to the touch and sweat glistens on my medical glove. I ask him, “How’s it going buddy?” He cannot respond to me. He is still standing but his pupils are dilated and he’s rocking back and forth. What is missing is his breath, his voice, and his normally calm demeanor. His lips are turning a shade of blue/purple.

The nurse is now approaching after putting on gloves. I give her as much relevant information as I can before I prepare to step back and take an assistance role in the overdose situation.

I have been trained for years to do emergency response. I went to school for this. I cope with the stress by repeating directions and documenting the times and dates for
the significant markers that I know are about to follow.

He gets an SPO2 monitor put on his finger. This little machine gives the nurse information about his heart rate and how much oxygen is in his blood. As we wait in anticipation for the monitor to tell us his number I just keep hoping, wishing it is above the magic number of 66%. However, anything below 90% and the nurse will start to offer means to reverse or help ride out the overdose. Without oxygen getting to the brain there is a chance for brain damage.

His number is low and the nurse makes the call – “Chris I need the oxygen tank and you to predraw naloxone.” I repeat the instructions back so nothing is missed in the communication. This man’s life is in our hands.

The nurse has now put oxygen on the man and is reminding him to breath. He is now in a seated position and you can see the determination on his face to get that gasp of air. He can, and my inner being is cheering yes, you can do it; you can beat the overdose and come back. But the reality of the situation is the gasp is not even close enough to raise his oxygen levels out of the danger zone.

The nurse now asks him, “Do you want narcan?” My heart leaps with joy. This will help you, we can get off this ride, you have a way to get air! But his response is “no” and the cold reality of addiction slaps me in the face. The “no” “not yet” words were whispered as almost as a plea out of fear. My stomach is wrenched out and my heart that was just hurting before is now broken.

My thoughts stray.

What are you running from that not being able to breathe and having no control over your body is a better option?

I check myself.

I will never know someone’s past or their current pain unless they share it with me. When he recovers from this overdose, he might tell me.

So I patiently plea with the man. Your oxygen is low, you are in pain, and you are overdosing. Let us give you narcan so you can come back to us. Also, in the next room we have snacks.

With the oxygen remaining low the nurse makes it clear to the man naloxone is now needed and she informs him that we will be administering the medication. Recognition is now on the man’s face – he now understands and gives consent by nodding yes to the nurse. The nod reminds me of the many nods I’ve seen athletes give their coaches when they are ready to start the fight.

One of the staff hands me a needle ready and filled with the antidote to opioids. The next challenge begins. Since the man is moving so much it takes a few tries to get the needle in and the medicine administered. It takes 3 vials of narcan to reverse whatever the drug has done to his system.

The first words out of the man’s mouth are “I am sorry.” Here is why I do what I do. This is the moment where he may say to me “Chris, I am tired of all this and I need help. That shot almost killed me and I need to change my life.” In reality we talk: where he is living, what his plan is for his next meal. These conversations will lead to a better connection and understanding of his life story. They will build trust between us so when he’s ready, he will ask me for help.

He has now successfully recovered from the overdose and will now hang out for the next while in case the antidote wears off and he overdoses again.

My name is Chris Hancock and my current role is a harm reduction support worker.

This is what overdose reversals means to me. An opportunity to save and change a life.

Raoul Bhatt

www.todayville.com

Follow Author

Apply for Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB) with CRA

Edmonton / 6 years ago

This is what overdose reversals means to me. An opportunity to save and change a life. By Chris Hancock

Opinion / 6 years ago

OPINION: Ravinder Minhas – as a Sikh, as a brown man, as a businessman who has put up with racism innuendos

Alberta

Edmonton Murder Shows Trudeau Has Lost Control Of Crime

Published on December 8, 2024

Todayville

Harshanedeep Singh from rozanaspokesman.com

News release from the Conservative Party of Canada

After nine years, the NDP-Liberal government has lost control of crime. Violent crime has skyrocketed by 50 percent since Trudeau became Prime Minister and 256 people were killed by a criminal who was out on bail or another form of release in 2022, the latest year available with full data.

On Saturday, Canadians witnessed the shocking, heinous murder of Harshandeep Singh, a 20-year-old security guard in Edmonton, Alberta. Singh was shot in the back while thanklessly doing his job as a nighttime security guard at a central Edmonton apartment building. A promising young life was snuffed out by a cold-blooded monster.

“One cannot imagine how Harshandeep’s family and friends feel,” said Tim Uppal, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family at this incredibly difficult time.”

Edmonton Police have since arrested two individuals and charged them with first degree murder: “Evan Rain, 30, and Judith Saulteaux, 30, were arrested and charged with 1st degree murder in relation to Singh’s death.”

Early indications suggest that Rain has a known prior violent history, with media reports aligning with Rain’s current age. In 2018, an “Evan Chase Francis Rain”, then age 24, was charged for a violent kidnapping in Wetaskiwin, one hour south of Edmonton. A woman was forced into the trunk of a car at gunpoint. It is not clear from media reports how this case was concluded.

In 2022, “Evan Rain, 28, of Paul First Nation” (45 minutes west of Edmonton) faced twenty-nine charges for a violent robbery in northern Saskatchewan involving firearms.

This is from the 2022 RCMP news release at the time:

Evan Rain, 28, of Paul First Nation, is charged with:

-one count, robbery, Section 344, Criminal Code;
-one count, have face masked with intent to commit an indictable offence, Section 351(2), Criminal Code;
-eight counts, possess a firearm knowing it was obtained by the commission of an offence, Section 96(2), Criminal Code;
-one count, possession of property obtained by the commission of an offence, Section 354(1)(a), Criminal Code;
-one count, mischief under $5,000, Section 430(4), Criminal Code;
-sixteen counts, possess a firearm while prohibited, Section 117-01(3), Criminal Code; and
-one count, point a firearm, Section 87(2), Criminal Code.

The status of these charges is not readily apparent. The RCMP’s 2022 news release does make clear that Rain was already prohibited from possessing firearms: “sixteen counts, possess a firearm while prohibited, Section 117-01(3).”

“It appears that our so-called ‘justice’ system terribly failed Harshandeep Singh – just as it has outrageously failed so many others,” said Uppal. “Harshandeep Singh’s murder cannot be accepted as just an unfortunate, unavoidable reality in our society. Authorities should answer to Rain’s prior police interactions and potential criminal history, including whether he was out on bail or some other form of release order.”

Life wasn’t like this before Justin Trudeau. Since the NDP-Liberal government passed Bill C-75 and Bill C-5, which gave high priority to releasing repeat violent offenders and took away mandatory jail time for certain violent crimes, a crime wave has been unleashed across the country. This was evident in a report from the Fraser Institute which showed that Canada’s violent crime rate is 14 percent higher than that of the United States’.

Trudeau’s only response to this has been to crack down on law-abiding firearms owners and Indigenous hunters which has done nothing to improve Canada’s public safety. Instead, violent gun crime is up by a staggering 116 percent since the Liberals formed government.

Enough is Enough. Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities. Only Common Sense Conservatives will bring home safe streets by ending Justin Trudeau’s catch-and-release justice system and bringing jail, not bail, for repeat violent offenders.

Alberta

Multi-million dollar drug seizure in southwest Edmonton

Published on October 28, 2024

Todayville

News release from ALERT (The Alberta Law Enforcement Response Team)

Nearly $2.5 million in drugs and cash was seized from a southwest Edmonton condo building. A warrant has been issued for an Edmonton man.

ALERT Edmonton’s organized crime team made the seizure on October 9, 2024 after searching an address in the Windermere neighbourhood. The Edmonton Police Service helped with the search warrant execution.

ALERT seized an estimated $2.3 million worth of drugs, which included:

17.7 kilograms of cocaine;
5.3 kilograms of MDMA;
950 grams of methamphetamine;
3.1 kilograms of ketamine;
5 kilograms of psilocybin mushrooms;
20,000 oxycodone pills;
4,705 illicit prescription pills;
$41,000 cash.

ALERT searched the address following an investigation that dates back to June 2024. Investigators developed information about a high-level drug trafficker operating in the Edmonton area with a number of supply lines.

The drug seizure marks ALERT’s largest since a record bust earlier in the year. In August, 27 kilograms of cocaine were seized from a west Edmonton home. The two investigations are unrelated.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Minh Nguyen. The 36-year-old Edmonton man is wanted on charges of possession of drugs for the purpose of trafficking, possession of proceeds of crime, and possession of counterfeit money.

Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to contact police.

The investigation began in June 2024 after ALERT received information about a drug supplier based in the Edmonton area. ALERT alleges Nguyen was supplying other drug dealers in Edmonton and northern Alberta communities.

Members of the public who suspect drug or gang activity in their community can call local police, or contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). Crime Stoppers is always anonymous.

ALERT was established and is funded by the Alberta Government and is a compilation of the province’s most sophisticated law enforcement resources committed to tackling serious and organized crime.