southpaw: “An investigation led by The Associated Press found at least 94 people died after they were given sedatives and restrained by police from 2012 through 2021. About half of the 94 who died were Black.” apnews.com/article/inve...

“An investigation led by The Associated Press found at least 94 people died after they were given sedatives and restrained by police from 2012 through 2021. About half of the 94 who died were Black.” apnews.com/article/inve...

Dozens of deaths reveal risks of injecting sedatives into people restrained by policeapnews.com The medical syringe has become a tool of control during police encounters, a practice that quietly spread based on questionable science.

can confirm, an EMT friend has been asked multiple times by police to inject ketamine into a "suspect" - fortunately he knows his rights, and knows the cops can't do anything for refusing, so he refuses every time

your friend is a rock star of a human

He already knows it but I’ll tell him again

yeah tell him. there’s a shortage of good role models.

I used to teach physical intervention and restraint. I cannot express how utterly unsurprising this is. *Any* restraint carries a risk of death. When you're sedating someone and affecting their breathing, of course the risk of death is going to skyrocket.

Anyone who isn't a cop who performs physical restraints on a daily basis has the risk of killing the restrainee hammered into them. It is well and fully known that it's easy to accidentally kill someone in a restraint!

How the fuck is it constitutional for anyone to forcibly inject anyone with anything? You'd think the conservative antivax types would be particularly outraged. Yeah I know, qualified immunity supersedes the constitution

We theoretically have "implied consent" to treat people too altered by a life-threatening condition to give informed consent. Trouble is, some of my colleagues appear happy to outsource their assessment to police. Most of these patients would be alive if they had the bare minimum assessment done.

The other trouble is, we all learned (and there's been no effort to get us unlearned) that there's a syndrome that gets people into this life-threatening condition absent any external cause, that's coincidentally highly comorbid with police contact.

Are referring to "excited delirium"? I wasn't aware that this was an actual medical diagnosis that was considered life-threatening (on its own, I mean, not in the obvious non-medical way). Can you confirm that this is actually the reasoning? That seems crazy

Yes, that's *a lot* of the reason (there are legitimate scenarios for prehospital sedation, but I believe this report only covers police contacts, which would mostly be ED). The medical board that governs most of EMS endorsed ED until 2023; most medics don't even know there's a controversy.

Even after ACEP finally gave up on it (one of the last two holdouts), there's been no systemic effort even to inform EMS of the change.

you probably know, but the background of the "excited delirium" diagnosis is super sketchy--the coauthor of an influential book on it testified in George Zimmerman's defense, and using the same kind of junk science concluded that Van Gogh didn't shoot himself bsky.app/profile/matt...

learned a new infuriating thing

Excited Delerium is often just another name for being terrified of the police.

And not surprised "excited delirium" appears.

I haven't met many paramedics who even knew "excited delirium" was controversial before I started talking about it. Even after ACEP ended its holdout, there's been no systemic effort to update protocols or educate providers.

I'm proud of my county, but our standard of care should just be the national standard, not a standout. AMR being a private company is insane.

There's no reforming this. It must be dissolved.

It's illegal to drug yourself but cops can drug you involuntarily. Freedumb!

I see the american fascist euthanasia program is going well

Related: bsky.app/profile/phil...

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — Paramedic who injected Elijah McClain with ketamine before his death avoids prison, gets probation.

Did AP track how many were referred to as "uppity" in their internal comms?

Notably, at least in the Texas sample, there were *quadruple* the number of deaths using midazolam than ketamine. Ketamine saves lives; not doing the bare minimum for your patient kills.

Wow it’s almost like being an anesthesiologist is highly-trained position and not something a guy just out of police academy can do.

Wait, what!!! Cops are administering drugs? Like no idea about the personals medical history, interactions with medications they are taking, just “jab them with the sleepy juice non-doctor”. This is legal? What the fuck are we doing?

Mostly paramedics working with cops, I think

I've been reading the whole thread and it really gives me the creeps. Since when are police medical equipped, the thought of this is so scary. I can't understand why someone already restrained should be given any kind of tranquilizer as a standard? Call me naive but it's so out of order.

They are not. EMTs do it for them, and have the right to refuse.

Good for them!! This really scares me.

Omg. 400mg of IM ketamine is a heavy handed induction of general anesthesia. Without intubation, that’s murder. This is street level lethal injection.

Why is this even a thing? Yikes.

Smartphones are a symbol of peace! Follow me!

How can you inject someone with anything not knowing what else they're taking, prescribed or not?

📌

Do you need consent to do this?

For those not in the know: basically zero cops have the right to carry, let alone use sedatives. That's not even just an EMS thing, that's Paramedic minimum. EMS serves in each county at the discretion of the Medical Director, not the cops. To obey cops and do this is an instant violation of ethics.

what the actual fuck?

I can't wait for an EMT built like an NFL linebacker to piledriver a cop into the pavement, only to be backed up by an entire fire department company with Halligan Tools and fire axes.

I once read a quote from a cop that went something like “do not argue with the fire department. That hose will send you down the block before you can even think about reaching for anything.”

When I was in the Navy, I was 240 pounds and physically fit. The fact that I was able to competently handle a fire hose at 150psi, all by myself, scared the shit out of everyone on the ship. Yet, I had to PLANT my feet like I was the Juggernaut.

"I'm The Juggernaut, Bitch!" Scene - X-Men The Last Stand (2006) Movie Clip HDwww.youtube.com "I'm The Juggernaut, Bitch!" Scene - Kitty Pryde vs Juggernaut - X-Men The Last Stand (2006) Movie Clip HD [1080p] "Don't you know who I am? I'm the Juggernaut, bitch!" TM & © Fox (2006) Fair use. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use. No copyright infringement intended.

So are police now killer doctors now too or is this a new way of strangulation and no consequences because you can’t tell with a needle? One needle for White the one with the treat in for everyone else! Just asking for a friend. No needle not even sewing needle.

Man. What a crazy set of coincidences.

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