A 16-year-old boy with fentanyl poisoning was taken to the Hospital Emergency Department and then to the toxicology department at a hospital in Szczecin. This is the first time in the region that medical intervention was necessary because of this drug. – We saved his life – admits the paramedic in an interview with TVN24.
A 16-year-old patient, after taking fentanyl, was admitted to the Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Nephrology, Dialysis and Acute Poisoning Treatment at the Szczecin “Zdroje” hospital on Monday. This is the first case of poisoning with this opioid drug in the region.
– It was a trip of the medical rescue team, of which I was the head, to an unconscious patient who was turning blue. On site, while performing medical rescue activities, we discovered that he had taken fentanyl. We acted in accordance with the standards of medical rescue activities, which resulted in saving the patient's life – admitted paramedic Tomasz Kubiak in an interview with TVN24. The 16-year-old regained consciousness while being transported to the hospital.
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After taking fentanyl, he “had impaired consciousness and breathing”
The head of the clinic, Prof. Andrzej Brodkiewicz, emphasized that the 16-year-old was “in a good general condition, with good respiratory and circulatory function.” He noted that the patient needed help again after taking narcotics. “This is probably the second or third episode in his life,” Brodkiewicz said. But this was the first time he had been poisoned with fentanyl.
Hospital “Zdroje” in SzczecinTVN24
The teenager had previously been taken to the Emergency Department of the University Clinical Hospital No. 1 at Unii Lubelskiej Street. – He had impaired consciousness, impaired breathing – Brodkiewicz said, stipulating that this was information from medical records, “only a paper interview”.
The patient is in the pediatric nephrology and acute poisoning treatment department. On Tuesday afternoon, as the doctor said, he was already in good condition.
The spokeswoman for the “Zdroje” hospital, Magdalena Knop, stressed that the hospital notified the media about the first case of fentanyl poisoning in Szczecin and the region because it “was called to order” by reports published on social media.
Fentanyl: A Deadly Drug and a Perfect Medicine
Fentanyl poisonings became a hot topic a few months ago, when the media reported that fentanyl had killed over 100,000 Americans for the third year in a row. The Washington Post wrote about it, among others. Increasingly frequent cases of poisoning were also reported in European countries, and in Poland the “fentanyl trail” led to Żuromin (Masovian Voivodeship). In June this year, the prosecutor's office in Mława reported that six people were charged with illegal fentanyl trade, including 55-year-old Jarosław D., known as the “Żuromin spirit”. At the end of June, the Police Headquarters reported that four more people had been detained, residents of Żuromin and the Lublin Voivodeship.
Prof. Brodkiewicz emphasized during the briefing that the “huge problem” of fentanyl poisoning occurs primarily in the United States and Western European countries. In Poland, this drug is not so easily available. According to the Szczecin specialist, the only way to reduce the risk of fentanyl poisoning is to “very strongly restrict access to this drug.”
Brodkiewicz recalled that fentanyl was invented in the 1960s and has proven to be a very strong painkiller, acting dozens of times more powerful than morphine. It is used to combat cancer pain in palliative patients. In hospitals, it is administered intravenously. In outpatient clinics, it is available on prescription, in the form of patches or nasal sprays. Its sale is strictly recorded.
– Fentanyl is an excellent drug when used by professionals in appropriate doses. However, it becomes a dramatically dangerous drug when overdosed – said Brodkiewicz.
He added that fentanyl as a narcotic drug is taken “in a processed form”. – Of course, by criminal groups that sell various substances mixed in one tablet in the form of tablets, which dramatically increases the risk of adverse effects – stated Brodkiewicz.
He explained that fentanyl, as an opioid drug that binds to receptors in the central nervous system, produces pain-relieving effects, “but also a deep sense of relaxation.” When taken intravenously, it works within a minute or two. And after about 30 minutes, its effects wear off. When taken orally, however, it starts working after 30-50 minutes, and the effects last for several hours.
Taking fentanyl can disrupt the respiratory center, slow down the heart rate, and cause loss of consciousness. – The symptoms are strictly dependent on the dose taken. The patient may lose consciousness, the pupils will be pinpoint, they may be in a state of catatonia, where they are supposedly in contact, but there is no contact. Extreme situations include breathing disorders, a drop in blood pressure, a slowing of the heart rate, and, as a consequence, death – summed up Brodkiewicz.
In the Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Nephrology, Dialysis and Acute Care at the “Zdroje” hospital, 3026 people have been hospitalized since 2013. This year, the largest number of young patients were admitted in March and April – 39 each. In July, 21.
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