Recently retired EMT here. Kudos for saving a life. I very seldom saw a person OD more than once, but it happens some times. I once ran on the same guy ODing

Recently retired EMT here. Kudos for saving a life. I very seldom saw a person OD more than once, but it happens some times. I once ran on the same guy ODing three times in 24 hours. He died of an OD a few weeks later, though not on my shift. He was only 18. Folks, if you are going to use opiates, keep a friend that knows CPR with you. Simple chest compressions can keep adequate air exchange until somebody arrives with Narcan. There are two drugs I carried that had an instand life saving effect: Narcan and D50 (50% dextrose solution). Somebody with low blood sugar will often present with a radically altered level of response, if they are even conscious. Start an IV, push D50 and within seconds, they sit up and talk to you as if nothing is out of the ordinary. Be advised, it is relatively short lived and the patient needs to consume some complex carbohydrates or protien to sustain their blood sugar levels. Yes, it is terribly under paid, but there is great job security. I worked tech/research most of my adult life, but market and government priority changes made it really tough to work toward a retirement. It seems every few years, either the project was cancelled, or the line was shut down. As an EMT/firefighter, my minimum week was 56 hours (by federal law due to the standard 33% duty cycle of a 24 hour, 7 day week) and sometimes nearly double that. Unfortunately, only the firstw 40 hours, (at just above minimuim wage) applied toward retirement benefits where I worked.