Neither more nor less: Heroin Overdose at the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run ...

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Heroin Overdose at the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run ...

The old and the new Tompkins Square Park societies came face-to-face Tuesday afternoon at the dog run . In the midst of dogs , cell-phone wielding dog tenders and those who gather to watch both , a young man went down on a park bench after shooting too much dope .

Every spring the dope in the neighborhood seems to be sweeter , that is cut less , than at any other time of the year . An obvious increase in the number of heroin overdoses in the street and in TSP in the spring and early summer seems to support this conclusion . This has been so for as long as we can remember . We have noted this phenonmenon here at NMNL before . Today , a beautiful sunny spring day in TSP , provided one more springtime supporting example .

We first noticed this young man lying supine on a park bench next to the dog run in Tompkins Square Park as 3 or 4 other young men were frantically attempting to revive him ,one of them pounding forcefully on his chest . Clearly the attempt to revive the young man was not suceeding . Looking about anxiously , probably for cops , the young men ended the revival effort . Lifting his limp , liquid body to an upright position they propped him up on the bench hanging one arm over the back of the bench to hold him in an erect position . The young men left their friend sitting up-right and unconscious on the park bench surrounded by a few quizzical observers .

Perhaps 10 minutes passed from the time we first noticed the situation until the time when the young men fled the scene. The unconscious man's face at the time his freinds left him had become ashen ; he needed help .

A few more minutes passed before the ambulance arrived and medical technicians were able to administer at least 2 seperate doses of naloxone , the heroin blocking agent . We did not see the young man regain consciousness . He was removed to a local hospital .

# posted by Bob Arihood @ 4:22 AM