** Louisiana EMT dead after ambulance tumbles from hoist
** New Hampshire medics struggling to keep up with upswing in overdose patients
UNITED STATES NEWS
** A Marrero, Louisiana EMT is dead after being crushed by an ambulance that fell from a hoist.
That is the word from KATC (February 11) which said the Wednesday accident at an area garage
also injured a second EMT. According to the news site, the unnamed practitioner was pronounced
dead in the evening hours after transport to hospital. A Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesman
said the accident happened after a mechanical failure in the lift. Additional details on the incident
are not yet available.
** New Hampshire paramedics are apparently struggling to keep up with an upswing in overdose
patients. WMUR (February 10) said stats indicate in Nashua alone overdose calls have quadrupled in
the last 12 months. According to the news site, the city saw nine such calls in January of last year,
compared to 35 in the same month of this year. In Manchester, figures show 96 overdose related
deaths in 2015, with fentanyl being the main drug in 70 of the incidents. Although responders are
using Narcan virtually every day on such patients, several paramedics told the news site the
excessive strength of the street drugs often requires sometimes triple the dose of naloxone to
successfully revive someone.
