First aid for heavy partiers

[Adrian Fynch]

Hey folks,

 

Recently I've had two people I've known die of an accidental overdose and I had to take care of & put another person in hospital, all in the past month & it gave me the idea to put together a zine on basic first aid/dealing with someone having a bad reaction to drugs or ODing, as well as the legal/financial issues of dealing with paramedics & the cops in these kinds of situations. It would be a companion to a zine my sister is putting together on accurate drug information (opposed to old wives tales/fear-mongering).

 

Before I begin, I was wondering if such a thing might exist already, & if so, where I can get ahold of it. Being in Canada, I'd like something based on the laws here, but anything is better than nothing.

 

 

I know there's a lot of this information floating around on the internet etc, but after dealing with the friends of the girl I put in the ambulance, I think it's really important to make something that's geared towards people who are mistrustful of the police/engaged in illegal activity so that they can still provide adequate care for each other without having to worry about being charged or arrested.

[Jess Dykstra]

This is a great idea. I don't know of any existing stuff like this, but I'm sure someone else on here will. I'd be interested to see what you end up putting out!

Also, I'm sorry for your loss. =(

[Atomic Heat Ray]

In the mid- to late 90s I remember seeing some thing on MTV news about some group that goes to raves

and gives people first aid who are having bad acid trips and od'ing on extasy and all that.  I don't know what

the group was called or anything, as I was never involved in that scene in any way..

Maybe google some terms that might fit in those perameters and you'll

come up with some information.  "first aid rave"  or some shit like that might lead you in a direction of some

information or at least a group that you could write an article on. 

 

 

[kit feral]

That's an absolutely great idea.  I would love to have it on hand.  And I'm so sorry you've been going through this, I can relate.

[NicoleIntrovert]

VERY good idea.  I would love to support this project if you put something together by distroing it and spreading the word for submissions.  

[Jenna Appleseed]

This used to be good for that sort of info Uk-wise but I'm not sure how up to date it is now.

http://www.urban75.com/Drugs/

[Adrian Fynch]

Thanks. There's also http://www.erowid.org/ which is US based, I believe. Someone is making a drug information zine already & I wouldn't feel confident doing that myself (don't know enough about chemistry). So I wanted to do a kind of harm reduction zine as a companion, sort of in the event something bad -does- happen, people will hopefully have an idea of what they can do.

Jenna Appleseed said:

This used to be good for that sort of info Uk-wise but I'm not sure how up to date it is now.

http://www.urban75.com/Drugs/

[Adrian Fynch]

Hey, that would be really great. I'm not sure what type of submissions I'd be looking for, but if anyone has something they think would be good, I'd love to hear it.

NicoleIntrovert said:

VERY good idea.  I would love to support this project if you put something together by distroing it and spreading the word for submissions.  

[Adrian Fynch]

Thanks for the support everyone. I'll make sure to post here about it when it's done. Not sure when it'll be as I have school starting in a couple of weeks, but I'd like to have a rough draft by then at least.

[moongirl]

This is an awesome idea i would love to read this zine and i know a lot more people who would benefit from it. Please keep me in mind when you're finished, I will buy it or trade you for it!

[Ericfishlegs]

I agree with Mulnix yet I disagree with the reasoning. If you wanna help a friend in case they overdose you should take a first aid class. Otherwise leave it to the professionals. And don't be such a selfish little shit that you'd refuse to call paramedics because you're afraid to get busted. Trying to use info you got in a zine to try and save your friends life seems like a sure fire way to get charged with involuntary manslaughter.

[Adrian Fynch]

I don't believe I discussed distribution at all, but I have lots of ideas, so I didn't feel the need to ask about it.

The zine is obviously not meant to be a replacement for a first aid class. (I've already written a huge disclaimer etc about that.) I would rather everyone took a class & took care of their friends properly, but a lot of people don't for a multitude of reasons. I figure some information is better than none and I'd rather it be there especially when people are extremely reluctant to 'leave it to the professionals' because of fear/mistrust/whatever. Also some types of people likely to get into these situations might actually be more interested in reading a zine than say some other type of literature.

Part of the information in it will be peoples' rights and the policies that go through when they -do- call the police/ambulance, so hopefully that will make them less reluctant to do so.

[NicoleIntrovert]

I think people who have voiced their dissenting opinion on this do not understand what it is like in those situations or does not have experience in heavy illegal drug use.   They cannot grasp the paranoia and the "no cops" mentality or the fear that is instilled if a cop happens upon that situation.