Page 9 - NIXBOOK

I handled suicide implements and weapons and I dealt with the upset friends and family members who found the deceased
bodies of their loved ones. I delivered death notifications. And I saw a lot of distressed people have to make very difficult and
quick life or death decisions about how much effort should be made to resuscitate their dying family members, suddenly
collapsed on the kitchen floor or back porch or living room or lawn. I kept spouses calm and distracted while paramedics tried
to save their husbands and wives with CPR and cardiac defibrillation, which was in reality never as successful as seen on TV. I
also met a lot of folks who had suddenly found themselves in states of sudden and complete shock; some were aware of it, most
weren’t.

Continuing in the category of seeing stunned people having to make very difficult decisions quickly, I met a few handcuffed
drug dealers in their houses, sitting on a chair while their world crumbles down around them with state and federal agents
tearing their place apart uncovering hidden guns, cash, and large quantities of drugs, and the dealers are suddenly looking at 10
or 20 or 30 years in prison, or maybe a few less..? if they quickly choose to cooperate and become a confidential informant against
their friends, or their dealers, or even cartels.

I dealt with drug users, drug addicts, drug dealers, drug smugglers, and confidential informants. I saw a lot of drug deals gone
bad. I saw too many young adults melt their brains into goo because they got into the habit of intentionally inhaling chemical
fumes, like cans of compressed air. Or gasoline. Over the course of my career I saw a lot of drug addicts overdose, usually on
heroin. Most were young adults in their early 20’s who could not plan or even envision their lives more than about 3 days into
the future. Some were carried away in medic units to the hospital but more than a few were carried away in plain white vans to
the morgue. I knew one young man who had overdosed on heroin and been resuscitated more times – and this is not an
exaggeration - than he had birthdays. And I knew some criminals who got arrested and booked into the local jail at the average
rate of once every 3 months, every year.. for their entire adult lives.