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Immunity from possession charges for a person calling 911
Posted:
Jul 7, 2011 1:07 AM
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My brother recently passed away of a drug overdose. This had progressed from a Vicodin addiction, methadone treatment, Percocet addiction, suboxone treatment, and then for just the two weeks prior to his death, heroin. He was also taking prescription Klonopin, but at much larger doses than ordered. He was at a drug dealer's house when it happened, and the drug dealer had just been bailed out of jail 6 hours before my brother was pronounced dead. When it was noticed that my brother was overdosing, the people in the house tried to revive him themselves by carrying him to the bathroom and putting ice on him. No one will admit to how much time actually passed after he was found unresponsive before 911 was called. When my brother's "friend" called 911, he immediately hung up. The dispatcher called back and then got the report of a possible drug overdose. By the time the ambulance got there it was too late and the resuscitation efforts were ineffective. Whene the police arrived on the scene in response to the 911 call, the other people in the house were arrested. This just reinforced the fear of addicts on the street of calling for help when someone needs medical attention. I am so angry with the thought that maybe my brother could have been saved if an ambulance had been called sooner. It upsets me to think of how often this probably actually happens and how many more times it will happen in my city because of people hearing about the arrests after the 911 call. I know they have a "Good Samaritan" law to protect people who try to perform CPR. I wouldn't exactly call it the same thing, but it seems like it could serve a similar purpose - to encourage people to get help for someone in a medical emergency without fear of repercussion - if a law was passed to provide immunity from possession charges for a person calling 911 in that situation.
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