It would seem that you just can't trust those people who misuse illegal drugs...

We were called to someone who'd smoked some heroin, drunk some beer and also smoked some crack cocaine. He was... 'not alert', hardly surprising really.

The flat was full of drug users, our patient was the one being propped up by a woman.

“He'll be alright”, she said, “I've been taking heroin for over twelve years”, she proudly announced.

Our patient was semi-conscious, sweaty profusely and was breathing rather slower than is normally considered healthy.

A quick shot of Naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of Heroin, and our patient was a bt more responsive. With the aid of some police we managed to spend the next hour getting the patient out to the ambulance.

Once outside his 'friends' disappeared back into the flat and locked their front door. The police were no longer needed and so we sent them off to deal with a fight in a pub (probably) and started checking out the patient.

“I'm not going to hospital without my jacket and bag”, he told me.

But what would you know? It would appear that some people who take illegal drugs are perhaps a little bit untrustworthy. His 'friends' wouldn't open the door to us or to the patient.

So he refused the ambulance and our offer to call the police back. Instead we left him standing outside the flat, swaying slightly from the effects of the alcohol, no doubt until he got bored and stumbled back to his hostel down the road.

Strange thing about this 'client group', they are all very “I love you bruv”, until you give them the chance to steal something from you.

Incidentally, the reason why our patient had such a strong effect from the drugs? He'd been released from prison that very day, and so his tolerance for drugs had dropped during his time inside. Being released from prison has led to the death of more than one Heroin addict from this mechanism.

In some fluffy way it seems that victims are sometimes victims to other victims.

Or something.