Paramedics Give Drug That Killed Elijah McClain to Diabetic Black Man

[Judi Lynn]

BY DANIEL VILLARREAL ON 8/7/20 AT 9:17 PM EDT

When Black Minneapolis resident Max Johnson began having a seizure last Thursday morning, his white girlfriend, Abby Wulfing, called 911 and told the dispatcher that he was having diabetic seizure caused by low blood sugar.

Wulfing said that the EMS responders who arrived seemed to think that Johnson's seizure was caused by illegal drugs. They asked Wulfing what he was on while they shouted commands at Johnson, tried to physically restrain him and called the police for backup.

The EMS workers injected Johnson with Glucagon, an emergency medication to treat his low blood sugar, and then they allegedly injected Johnson with 500 milligrams of ketamine, a potentially lethal dose that recently killed Black Aurora, Colorado resident Elijah McClain. The drug is sometimes used to chemically incapacitate someone for law enforcement purposes.

. . .

"This happened because Max is a 6'5" Black man," Wulfing wrote on Facebook. "My whiteness was not enough to save him from the Hennepin Healthcare EMS and MPD's egregious racism and life-threatening decisions. I believe that police brutality and racism is more of a health risk to Max than his Type I diabetes."

More:
https://www.newsweek.com/paramedics-give-drug-that-killed-elijah-mcclain-diabetic-black-man-1523755

[mr_lebowski]

1. Sounds messed up at first blush, that's for sure ...

I am curious as to whether the practice of dosing people with ketamine is in fact limited to black folks, however.

Also, it seems like there'd be something a bit safer if you really need chemically subdue somebody who's seizing apart from ketamine.

"High doses may dangerously reduce breathing, lead to muscles spasms or weakness, dizziness, balance difficulty, impaired vision, slurred speech, nausea and vomiting, and severe confusion."

[Greyhead]

2. I fell and broke my leg while walking our dogs

It broke just above my ankle and the bone was protruding out of my skin and bleeding profusely.
Luckily my daughter was with me and she called 911. When they got me into the ambulance, the paramedics were discussing how much medicine they should give me. Asked my weight as to how much they should administer. The directions were in kg’s and they couldn’t figure out how much they were to give me.
Anyhow the give me more than they should of. After the shot I thought that maybe I was going to die. I couldn’t move or even blink. I was freaking out. It turns out they gave me ketamine.
I understand now why they gave it to me. To immobilize me as I said it was a pretty bad break. I wish they had told me what they were administering and what I could expect.
Anyhow it’s been a little over 4 months and I almost back to normal.
I’ve done my fair share of drugs in my lifetime. What I don’t understand is that the kids are doing this for recreation. WTF how is this fun?

[Kitchari]

5. Holy crap

"The directions were in kg’s and they couldn’t figure out how much they were to give me" -- that is as terrifying as it is inexcusable

[virgogal]

3. These were medics,not police,and the girlfriend calls this police brutality....confusing.

L

[PandoraAwakened]

4. Police also on scene

Medics assumed drug overdose (versus known diabetic medical history related to them), thereby providing justification for MPD to be called and giving cover for injecting with ketamine. Read entire article to clear up confusion: MPD has history of giving paramedics the go-ahead to inject black men with ketamine.