THE TREATMENT OF ACUTE DRUG OVERDOSE

Year Published: 1960s

Creator: eli-lilly-focus-productions

Description: This 1960s Eli Lilly sponsored film by Focus Productions, "The Treatment of Acute Drug Overdose" details the types and treatment of drug overdoses, including narcotics, barbiturates, and amphetamines, showing patient cases from a Haight-Ashbury clinic in San Francisco, California. The clinic famously helped to transform how drug addiction is treated in the USA. The film begins with ripples spreading from a stone tossed in a pond (0:26), which narration says represents “waves of drug abuse.” Black men standing on a street corner in Haight-Ashbury (0:36); houses in middle-class neighborhoods (0:47); children on a bench at an affluent school (0:53). Physicians perform CPR on a patient who has overdosed (0:58). Title card: “The Treatment of Acute Drug Overdose” (1:19). The Haight-Ashbury free medical clinic (1:25), founded in 1967, with signs for Drug Detox, Dr. David E. Smith, Stuart Loomis, M.D., and George R. Gay, M.D. Clinic workers carry an overdosed patient on heroin from a car into the clinic (2:07) and resuscitate her. Dr. George R. “Skip” Gay, Director of the Heroin Clinic, wearing a peace sign necklace, discusses and demonstrates dos and don’ts for overdoses (4:32): Don’t look for constricted pupils or needle marks; get airway open; use a handkerchief to clear the mouth (6:40). He shows how to use an Oral Pharyngeal Airway device (OPA) to clear an airway (7:45) and a nasal airway (7:52). Step B is breathing; he demonstrates how to listen to a patient’s belly and perform respiration if needed (8:31). Step C is cardiovascular; he shows how to assess patient pulses (9:26) and perform a precordial thump to the chest (10:13). Step D is drugs; Dr. Gay injects 1 cc of Lorfan or Nalline, used for opiate overdoses (10:38), and the patient wakes up, agitated. He discusses other potential drugs (11:38): bicarbonate for acidosis, steroids, or Dopram (12:06), a respiratory stimulant. A review of the treatment process for narcotic overdoses is shown at 13:15. At 15:04, Dr. Gay, wearing a beanie and jean jacket, discusses characteristics of a barbiturate, or depressant, overdose. An unkempt patient (15:47) mumbles; Dr. Gay says to avoid giving more medication and get an accurate history. He says a barbiturate overdose will not react to a narcotic antagonist like naloxone, while an opiate overdose will, and that tranquilizer withdrawal can be life-threatening (18:55). A client, M, starts seizing due to barbiturate withdrawal (19:21); she is treated with Valium. Dr. Gay discusses barbiturate withdrawal symptoms (21:11): nervousness, seizure prodrome (treated with phenobarbital). Dr. Gay interviews a frazzled woman on speed (22:29); he says signs of speed ingestion are emaciation, hyperactivity, and paranoia. The woman on speed discusses her hallucinations on a couch (24:48). Dr. Gay says treatment involves a quiet environment and avoiding needles or touching (25:01). Clinic worker Jay talks to an LSD overdose patient, Dave, (26:00) in the Calm Center. Dr. Loomis, Chief of Psychological Services, discusses treatment of LSD patients (27:06), especially avoiding tranquilizers. He encourages Dave to have a good drug trip (28:58). Children pass a drug user on the street; an ad for Seagram’s whiskey (30:12). Irving Klompus, M.D. discusses multi-drug abuse (30:11), showing an airway device and syringe of naloxone (31:30). The film ends with a ripple in the pond again, emphasizing the complex nature of drug abuse. Credits: With cooperation of the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic. Script by Gordon Waldear; Directed and produced by Dick Ham.

Complete Record: This 1960s Eli Lilly sponsored film by Focus Productions, "The Treatment of Acute Drug Overdose" details the types and treatment of drug overdoses, including narcotics, barbiturates, and amphetamines, showing patient cases from a Haight-Ashbury clinic in San Francisco, California. The clinic famously helped to transform how drug addiction is treated in the USA. The film begins with ripples spreading from a stone tossed in a pond (0:26), which narration says represents “waves of drug abuse.” Black men standing on a street corner in Haight-Ashbury (0:36); houses in middle-class neighborhoods (0:47); children on a bench at an affluent school (0:53). Physicians perform CPR on a patient who has overdosed (0:58). Title card: “The Treatment of Acute Drug Overdose” (1:19). The Haight-Ashbury free medical clinic (1:25), founded in 1967, with signs for Drug Detox, Dr. David E. Smith, Stuart Loomis, M.D., and George R. Gay, M.D. Clinic workers carry an overdosed patient on heroin from a car into the clinic (2:07) and resuscitate her. Dr. George R. “Skip” Gay, Director of the Heroin Clinic, wearing a peace sign necklace, discusses and demonstrates dos and don’ts for overdoses (4:32): Don’t look for constricted pupils or needle marks; get airway open; use a handkerchief to clear the mouth (6:40). He shows how to use an Oral Pharyngeal Airway device (OPA) to clear an airway (7:45) and a nasal airway (7:52). Step B is breathing; he demonstrates how to listen to a patient’s belly and perform respiration if needed (8:31). Step C is cardiovascular; he shows how to assess patient pulses (9:26) and perform a precordial thump to the chest (10:13). Step D is drugs; Dr. Gay injects 1 cc of Lorfan or Nalline, used for opiate overdoses (10:38), and the patient wakes up, agitated. He discusses other potential drugs (11:38): bicarbonate for acidosis, steroids, or Dopram (12:06), a respiratory stimulant. A review of the treatment process for narcotic overdoses is shown at 13:15. At 15:04, Dr. Gay, wearing a beanie and jean jacket, discusses characteristics of a barbiturate, or depressant, overdose. An unkempt patient (15:47) mumbles; Dr. Gay says to avoid giving more medication and get an accurate history. He says a barbiturate overdose will not react to a narcotic antagonist like naloxone, while an opiate overdose will, and that tranquilizer withdrawal can be life-threatening (18:55). A client, M, starts seizing due to barbiturate withdrawal (19:21); she is treated with Valium. Dr. Gay discusses barbiturate withdrawal symptoms (21:11): nervousness, seizure prodrome (treated with phenobarbital). Dr. Gay interviews a frazzled woman on speed (22:29); he says signs of speed ingestion are emaciation, hyperactivity, and paranoia. The woman on speed discusses her hallucinations on a couch (24:48). Dr. Gay says treatment involves a quiet environment and avoiding needles or touching (25:01). Clinic worker Jay talks to an LSD overdose patient, Dave, (26:00) in the Calm Center. Dr. Loomis, Chief of Psychological Services, discusses treatment of LSD patients (27:06), especially avoiding tranquilizers. He encourages Dave to have a good drug trip (28:58). Children pass a drug user on the street; an ad for Seagram’s whiskey (30:12). Irving Klompus, M.D. discusses multi-drug abuse (30:11), showing an airway device and syringe of naloxone (31:30). The film ends with a ripple in the pond again, emphasizing the complex nature of drug abuse. Credits: With cooperation of the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic. Script by Gordon Waldear; Directed and produced by Dick Ham.