Scripps News Investigates: Paramedic questions drug many say is 'safe' after his patient died.
Nearly four years after his patient died following a police altercation, a South Carolina paramedic is publicly questioning ketamine, the sedative he injected into the patient's arm before the man lost consciousness forever.
"Based on the turn of events, I would have to question whether or not that's the best drug for that type of scenario," said Carney. The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration as an intravenous or intramuscular injection solution for"induction and maintenance of general anesthesia," but many medical professionals and researchers have found"off-label" purposes for the medication, including as a method to reduce pain, as a potential treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression, and as a means of sedating an agitated person outside of a hospital.
The 2021 publication featured a study conducted by researchers at ESO that noted 23 percent of agitated patients — or those who received ketamine outside of hospital setting for a behavioral reason — had evidence of at least one episode of decreased respiratory rate. SEE MORE: How Effective Are Anti-Depressants?
"It is my opinion that he likely would have recovered if he did not receive this injection," Dr. Stephen J. Cina, a forensic pathology consultant who examined the incident for the Adams County Office of the Corner, wrote. Currently, Colorado does not allow ketamine administration for agitation in a pre-hospital setting, according to Peter Myers, a public information officer for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, CDPHE.
Earlier in the evening, Britt, who had more than three times the legal driving limit of alcohol in his system, had pulled into a Mount Pleasant, SC neighborhood, Snee Farms, after a tire"blew out" on the car he was driving. Britt repeatedly shouted,"Roll me!" as he snorted and begged to be turned on his back for a better breath of air.
Police body camera footage shows Esdorn approaching the scene and calling out to Carney to prepare ketamine for the patient. "The decision was made ... to administer ketamine in a hope to calm the patient, relax the patient, make the scene safe for everyone involved," said Carney."Based on the limited experience that I have with ketamine administration, I wasn't expecting the turn of events. And we weren't really prepared, from a training standpoint, for that turn of events," he said of his patient's health decline.
However, the department convened an investigative review committee, in October 2022, to conduct a second investigation of the incident. According to DHEC, neither paramedic agreed to the discipline, and both men appealed the agency's decision. Both men are still certified paramedics in South Carolina.
DesChamps said the agency started collecting data, but"significant changes in the Division of EMS personnel" has caused a"disruption in the collation and review of the data." National changes The National Association of EMS Physicians, a group that provides education and resources to thousands of emergency medical professionals nationwide, also took steps to clarify when it is appropriate for paramedics to administer ketamine.
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