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Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny

abcnews.go.com

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Re: Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny

#2
> Paramedics were called and injected McClain with ketamine, but they incorrectly estimated his weight, giving him more than 1.5 times the dose he should have received. He got 500 milligrams because they thought he weighed 220 pounds, but he was only 140 pounds and should have received 315 milligrams.

That’s 7.9mg/kg, not nearly enough ketamine to cause cardiac arrest in someone that size. LD50 in humans is at least 5-10x that.

Those officers that had him in a chokehold killed him, and are trying to scapegoat the EMS.

There is a name for this behavior: a lynching.

Erica Marrero, Kyle Dittrich, Jason Rosenblatt, and Jaron Jones, white cops, murdered an unarmed black man.

The entirety of the consequences they suffered? They lost their jobs. The police who declined to enforce the law against them are complicit.

Abolish the police.

Re: Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny

#5
post #4

I'm confused. The police aren't administering the drug, EMS is. Can't you just solve this by telling EMS not to administer it unless they feel it's needed?

It's not a life-saving drug, it's literally never needed. Guy was 140 lbs. There's not a 140 lb man I couldn't subdue myself, probably. And I'm just an out of shape programmer. Why do six cops feel they can't do the same?

Re: Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny

#6
post #4

I'm confused. The police aren't administering the drug, EMS is. Can't you just solve this by telling EMS not to administer it unless they feel it's needed?

The guy with the gun who gets to murder with impunity said to do it.

This is what happens when medical personnel refuse illegal police orders:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_University_of_Utah_Hospit...

Graphic video of police abusing the nurse who refused:

https://youtu.be/ihQ1-LQOkns

Any time you think you have a simple solution to a problem and your explanation to fix things starts with “just”, stop and think for a moment that perhaps someone else has already thought up your simple solution.

Re: Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny

#7
post #5
post #4

I'm confused. The police aren't administering the drug, EMS is. Can't you just solve this by telling EMS not to administer it unless they feel it's needed?

It's not a life-saving drug, it's literally never needed. Guy was 140 lbs. There's not a 140 lb man I couldn't subdue myself, probably. And I'm just an out of shape programmer. Why do six cops feel they can't do the same?

They did subdue him: they put him in a chokehold, with enough pressure to stop his heart.

Re: Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny

#8
post #2

> Paramedics were called and injected McClain with ketamine, but they incorrectly estimated his weight, giving him more than 1.5 times the dose he should have received. He got 500 milligrams because they thought he weighed 220 pounds, but he was only 140 pounds and should have received 315 milligrams. That’s 7.9mg/kg, not nearly enough ketamine to cause cardiac arrest in someone that size. LD50 in humans is at least…

I hope I'm not not regurgitating false information (I'm finding it difficult to find a reputable primary source, since there's a lot of clearly pro-ketamine sites), but I was under the impression that one of the reasons that ketamine has been used both in people and in applications like as a horse tranquilizer is that it's safe dosage range is considerably wide, presenting some margin of error over similar drugs.

Obviously it's more than he should have been given (and tbh am pretty uncomfortable with it being given here at all), but my decidedly non-expert opinion (and the official autopsy statement that the "ketamine in McClain's blood was at 'tolerable levels' ") is that there's all sorts of red flags about this situation.

Re: Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny

#9
post #5
post #4

I'm confused. The police aren't administering the drug, EMS is. Can't you just solve this by telling EMS not to administer it unless they feel it's needed?

It's not a life-saving drug, it's literally never needed. Guy was 140 lbs. There's not a 140 lb man I couldn't subdue myself, probably. And I'm just an out of shape programmer. Why do six cops feel they can't do the same?

Because when the feedback loops on his 140lb musculature are blocked and he will keep going to the point of permanent damage... and when his ability to feel pain is decreased... and there's a very real concern for hyperthermia, rhabdomyolysis with an extended struggle, dysrhythmia, then maybe ketamine becomes the better option.

That being said, ketamine should be an EMS decision to minimize risk to patient and others, not "at LE direction".

Re: Ketamine that's injected during arrests draws new scrutiny

#10
post #8
post #2

> Paramedics were called and injected McClain with ketamine, but they incorrectly estimated his weight, giving him more than 1.5 times the dose he should have received. He got 500 milligrams because they thought he weighed 220 pounds, but he was only 140 pounds and should have received 315 milligrams. That’s 7.9mg/kg, not nearly enough ketamine to cause cardiac arrest in someone that size. LD50 in humans is at least…

I hope I'm not not regurgitating false information (I'm finding it difficult to find a reputable primary source, since there's a lot of clearly pro-ketamine sites), but I was under the impression that one of the reasons that ketamine has been used both in people and in applications like as a horse tranquilizer is that it's safe dosage range is considerably wide, presenting some margin of error over similar drugs. Obv…

3-4mg/kg is more than sufficient for subduing an adult human. 7-10mg/kg will cause unconsciousness, and is dangerous without CLOSE airway monitoring.

Injecting a suspect with a drug without medical necessity or consent is a major human rights issue, and you wouldn’t be far off if you called it rape.

The whole thing is quite obviously pig lies; they had dogs and tasers on this 140lb black man who they had already had multiple cops choking out. Nothing about their dodge adds up.

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