The call came in 2010. Like so many before it and so many after, the voice on the other end was of a mother, screaming in panic as her son lie motionless and covered in his own vomit.
“I need an ambulance right away,” she screamed. ” My son just overdosed on heroin. Please! He’s unconscious. Please hurry! … He’s only 21!”
Her voice cracked as she raced to her son’s side at the dispatcher’s request.
“OK, can you see his chest rise and fall?” he asked.
“Very little,” she said. “Very little, sir. Very little.