Today in cops gone feral

As someone who used to be a journalist and is now in medicine, this story is so poorly researched it makes me hurt inside.

FWIW, ketamine may not necessarily have been improperly administered in many of the cases mentioned. It's a first line "chemical restraint" for people who are acutely/dangerously agitated. Doctors use ketamine precisely because it doesn't have cardiovascular depression in therapeutic doses, unlike benzos. The biggest worry with ketamine, especially with kids, is it can cause wild hallucinations when waking up.

This line from the report "strapped down on a stretcher in an ambulance before receiving ketamine" could make total sense - a manic, psychotic or high patient can be strapped but also thrashing against the restraints in a way that's dangerous to themselves or others. Or this anecdote, about a guy in a mental health crisis: "Upon seeing the needle, the man, who is not named but described as 5 feet 3 to 5 feet 5 with a light build, said he did not want the shot. “Whoa, whoa that’s not cool!” he pleaded. “I don’t need that!”" If he's agitated and lacking capacity, he may not want sedation but still very much need it in order for safe transport and stabilization.

I've been reading an discussion among docs and medics about why someone would intubate a patient who's been given ketamine; it's pretty inside baseball, but the gist is it's because medics are poorly trained in ketamine's mechanism and think it acts like a benzo, causing breathing issues with sedation. So when someone is sedated to unconsciouses, they worry he's going into drug-induced respiratory failure and intubate. It would take a massive, massive dose of ketamine, more than anyone would ever think to administer, to cause respiratory/cardiac failure without someone else going on, like the asthma case. Though in that case, ketamine's still the best drug if she has to be chemically restrained - it's the choice to sedate asthmastics who need immediate intubation. If I had to guess, I'd say the asthma is why her breathing stopped, not the ketamine.

Cops should absolutely not be the ones ordering medication, but nothing in the article struck me as out-of-scope use. And a plea - if you're going to write about drugs, run your understanding about mechanism and side effects by a doctor or pharmacist.

 

First responders - heroes

Texas deputy accused of sexually assaulting 4-year-old threatened her mother with deportation, sheriff says | Crime | Dallas News

 

The milwaukee cops are especially heroic

https://deadspin.com/lawsuit-milwaukee-officer-at-sterling-brown-arrest-jok-1826956001

 

At least the officer in this one was charged:

DA releases body-cam video in police shooting that hurt 9-year-old Wichita girl

My dog isn't gun shy. If he shot at her and missed, she really would have attacked him.

 

"The case is thought to be the first in two decades where a Wichita police officer is facing criminal charges for an on-duty shooting that resulted in an injury or death. The Wichita Police Department fired him less than a month after the girl was hurt."

Of course it was a black cop and a white girl.

 

Looks like protests have occurred in Pittsburgh the last few days because a cop shot and killed a 17-year-old. Kid was shot three times in the back while fleeing a traffic stop

Background:
Outrage over fatal police shooting of unarmed black teen

Protesters shut down a highway last night:
Pittsburgh protesters shut down highway for hours over fatal police shooting of unarmed teen Antwon Rose

And they covered more ground to tonight:
Four people arrested in Pittsburgh in protests over death of Antwon Rose - CNN

 

Pitt’s very white chancellor has a black son? interesting.

 

It was apparently the vice chancellor, who is very much black.

 

Is Destiney Cruz-Sellars on the Dean's List?

"It took for him to be the student of the chancellor for them to do something about it? Pathetic."

You don't need to be the first to reply. Please try to be coherent.

 

It is sad that a firefighter was shot and killed.

1 firefighter killed, another wounded by gunshots at Long Beach senior apartments – Daily Breeze

Yet I am troubled by the mentality that you should shut down city streets for a tribute parade with civil servants on paid duty to salute. You knew the job was dangerous when you took it.