KANAWHA COUNTY, W. Va. — Paramedics and EMTs across the state are seeing a rapid rise in the number of synthetic marijuana overdoses.
Kanawha County Ambulance Authority Paramedic Danitta Ward and her partner responded to a call earlier this week in St. Albans.
“We got there and there was a 19-year-old male who had smoked synthetic marijuana,” she said. “He was experiencing extreme delirium and confusion. His heart rate was in excess of 200.”
Ward says luckily the patient’s girlfriend was able to tell them what he had taken and showed them the packet of K2. It’s sold in convenience stores as incense but now used as a type of synthetic marijuana. The patient was in no shape to assist them.
“His muscles tensed,” she remembered. “He was in tremors and he was biting his tongue...He said he felt like he was going crazy and losing his mind.”
Ward says the patient was in such bad shape, they couldn’t even get him into the ambulance and she feared for his life. She admits she felt helpless because she’d never dealt with a synthetic marijuana overdose in her 15-year career.
“We still do not have a formal protocol for it because it’s so new to our area,” she said. “One day it wasn’t here and the next day it’s everywhere.”
That’s when Ward called the National Poison Control Center. She said they had dealt with synthetic marijuana cases and were able to advise her and her partner what to do.
The paramedics were able to calm the patient with medication, stabilize him and get him to the hospital.
“Fortunately he was young and he has a strong heart and he’s healthy,” according to Ward. “But someone who is already compromised might not do so well.”
Mike Jarrett with the Kanawha County Ambulance Authority says just two months ago, only 30 percent of their staff had ever dealt with a synthetic marijuana overdose. Today that number is 80 percent.
The authority is currently working on a protocol for synthetic marijuana cases but it’s not easy. Because substances like K2 and a similar product called Spice are new and aren’t meant for consumption, it’s hard to diagnose an overdose. Reactions to the substance can vary widely.
The city of Huntington passed an ordinance banning the sale, possession and use of K2 and similar products just a few weeks ago. But it is still legal to purchase everywhere else in the state. Even though the label clearly says “NOT FOR CONSUMPTION,” a lot of people are using it as the new drug of choice.
The state legislature is currently considering a bill similar to what Huntington has in place. It can’t come soon enough for Ward.
Republished with permission from MetroNews