*** WATCH *** BACK-TO-BACK DOWNTOWN “PRIORITY ONE” OVERDOSES! BOTH...

HYANNIS – [HN NOTES] – Arya (the HN news dog) and I have been enjoying our “staycation” for the past week or so. We’ve been resting up and fixing equipment, getting ready for the anticipated busy end of summer and fall news cycle – fall and early winter typically being our busiest time of year.

Partly out of boredom, and partly because we both need to get back into the “swing of things,” for our eventual return, Arya and I decided it wouldn’t hurt to have a little “dress rehearsal” last evening, so to speak. So, we geared up and loaded up, and hit the road for a couple of hours prior to midnight, focusing mainly on Hyannis.

“Right off the bat,” we responded to several serious calls in the downtown area. All the calls were alarming, but the most alarming were two separate, “back-to-back” priority one overdoses, where two separate men were found down on the pavement in two separate parking lots! (Sources tell HN there have been about two to three “priority one” overdoses a day in the downtown area recently. And HN’s intent is to “get the word out” regarding these near-fatal medical emergencies. So, too whom it may concern, and “calling all cars,” it’s pretty bad out there right now in terms of opioid overdoses! according to sources. And apparently, the ODs tend to “come in waves,” sometimes when people receive their paychecks, or benefit payments, sources say.)

The following HN Bodycam Video highlights the second of those priority one medical emergencies last evening. By chance, HN arrived on scene to the rear of the Salvation Army on North Street just seconds after the call was dispatched to first responders. A good Samaritan was already on the ground doing CPR, including mouth-to-mouth. He did not have Narcan. HN always keeps a supply of Narcan on hand for whenever we arrive before police and firefighters. To make a long story short – and as you will see in the following video – a man in his early 50s was revived with the help of everyone on scene. The following HN Video is heavily obscured and blurred. The voice of the good Samaritan has also been modified or changed. CAUTION: DESPITE BEING HEAVILY BLURRED AND EDITED, VIEWER DISCRETION IS HIGHLY ADVISED. These daily, real-life dramas unfold across the Cape… across the State… and across the entire country these days! The following video shows what one of these deadly, or near-fatal, overdoses can look like up close. It shows the struggle between life or death, where life can only possibly prevail with the assistance of Narcan, bystanders, or passersby.

[HN VIDEO – PRESS PLAY]

HN “BACK-TO-BACK OVERDOSE” PHOTOS: IN SEPARATE SCENE, MAN FOUND ON THE GROUND, OVERDOSING IN BANK DRIVE-THRU

HYANNIS – [HN NOTES] – The above photos show the first priority one overdose we responded to last evening. It happened behind an old, abandoned bank on Main Street, at the corner of Winter Street.

Passersby found a man down on the pavement, called 911, and began trying to wake him. Due to a quick response and several doses of Narcan, the 45-year-old Hyannis man eventually came around.

HN NOTE: It takes very little effort to carry Narcan and a pair of rubber gloves. And Narcan is not hard to administer. By reviving an overdose patient, you are giving them a second chance to possibly get clean, once and for all. I, personally, have seen several overdose patients eventually become clean and turn their lives around. It’s not easy. And some may feel like it’s a “long shot” (to say the least), but I’ve personally seen it happen, and I know that it’s possible.

It’s possible.

P.S. – Today’s Hytown Vignette is a brought to you by Julie London [CLICK IT/CRANK IT!]