1/ Twitter, help me find the new independent investigator for Elijah McClain's death. I said I wasn't going to watch the video but here I am...in tears over the police arrest and subsequent medical (cardiac) arrest of Elijah McClain, both of which can be seen in the video.
2/ I've been an ER doctor for 11 yrs. I've cared for >50,000 people with occ malpractice consulting. So here is a free consult based on the body cam info ONLY. I don't care what the media or paramedics document. Elijah McClain's heart stopped at the scene, not during transport.
3/ When EMS arrived, he was vomiting, moaning...not fully awake and alert. EMS gives him a dose of Ketamine presumably so that he would "calm down" and cooperate during transport to the hospital. Ketamine (works in ~3-4m when given in the arm muscle like in Elijah's case).
4/Then Elijah goes quiet. All you could hear was paramedics and officers making a plan to get him on the stretcher. They decide to leave the handcuffs on and finally get him on the stretcher. Once on the stretcher, I could see him again and that's when I saw it. An agonal breath.
5/ An agonal breath is what we call a "brainstem reflex". It's not a real breath. It looks like a gasp. It indicates that there is an emergency (for Elijah, cardiac arrest)...his brain was not getting oxygen. 9 mo later, my heart and soul screamed "HE CAN'T BREATHE" as I watched.
6/ Then I heard a paramedic indicate they should get him into the ambulance to "suction" him. Then he said it again w/more urgency...and I knew that he had seen it too. He saw the agonal breath in real time. Elijah didn't need to be suctioned. He needed immediate & effective CPR.
7/ Tragically, the viral video showing retired St. Louis police capt. David Dorn dying on a sidewalk (shot while responding to a pawn shop burglary during the protests) showed the same thing as he lay there bleeding out...with these agonal "breaths" which are not breaths at all.
8/ I had more things to say about the video and about Ketamine but I'm feeling emotionally exhausted and probably just need to step away from the computer at this point...but willing to do a comprehensive review for free if I can reach the right folks. #medtwitter #BlackTwitter
