The volunteer Occupy Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»medic who responded to a camper that overdosed on heroin Thursday morning said it could have been a fatality if it happened in an unsupervised area of the city.
If he'd been at Oppenheimer Park with nobody around this could have ended a lot differently, said Mathew Kagis.
Kagis is one of 20 first aid volunteers at the controversial, anti-corporate greed tent village, which began Oct. 15. He said he was on a routine morning walk around the site when he heard screaming.
Somebody said somebody's not breathing, so I sprinted to the medic tent to get a facemask and sprinted into the tent to see what was going on, Kagis told the Courier.
He wasnt immediately aware that it was a drug overdose until he was told.
I took a quick look around for sharps, just in case, and then got in and got on the chest after I'd assessed that there was no pulse, he said.
I did one full cycle of CPR and rechecked pulse. That's a two-minute cycle, Kagis said. By then the first responder people had also gotten to the scene, they inserted the OPA [oral airway device] and got a bag valve mask on to assist with breathing. From there it went like clockwork, the paramedics showed up, they were able to revive him.
Kagis said he knew little of the man, other than he is an American named Tai and is in his mid-to-late-20s. He said the only other serious incident at the Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Art Gallerys north plaza since Occupy Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»began Oct. 15 was when a man injured in a bar fight on Granville Mall fled from his attackers and was treated by a volunteer medic before an ambulance arrived.
Most of what we're dealing with down there is minor, it's owies and people needing vitamins or dry socks or a small wound dressed, he said.
Kagis said volunteer medics regularly address the general assemblies to advise the camping protesters to know their neighbours and ensure theyre not becoming hypothermic. Kagis said Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»Coastal Health has supplied harm-reduction equipment such as needles, needle disposal and sterile water. The site includes a handwashing station and hand sanitizers. When Food Not Bombs volunteers dont have hot water, they use soap and bleach to disinfect utensils.
Kagis works in the food and beverage industry and is a ski patrol volunteer in winter who got involved in the protest because I believe like a lot of other people down there that our system is broken, it's broken on a political level, it's broken on a financial level. I want the powers that be to look up, pay attention and start having the conversation how we fix it.
Fire chief John McKearney ordered all tarps and unused tents to be removed by 10 a.m. Friday morning and reiterated the ban on propane tanks.
The minutes for the Nov. 3 Occupy Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»general assembly do not mention the morning drama, including the overdose and how some protesters resisted media attention. The minutes indicate the campers pride themselves on creating a safe environment but they disagree with the process of the citys safety edict.
If and when people in uniform come to any of us flashing a piece of paper, refuse to sign. Do not consent! Nobody has our authorization or right to speak on behalf of this global movement, said the minutes.
