What is "Special K" and how is it used in the ER...it doesn't stop the pain, but induces an attitude of "I don't care" which allows a patient to remain conscious through a procedure...an out of body experience of sorts...BD
Special K, or ketamine, is in fact an old drug. Available since the early '60's, it has enjoyed something of a rebirth in the past few years in hospitals, in-patient psych facilities and — illegally, of course — in
nightclubs (the sweaty-techno-mosh-pit kinds, not the ones with elegant ladies at small tables). Though it's listed as one, ketamine is not really an anesthetic; it's not even an analgesic. It doesn't actually stop pain. On Special K, you'll still feel pain — you just won't care. Patients I have seen on ketamine become nonchalant about what's going on with their bodies, as if they're not really in there: "Out of body" is how users say they feel on it.
Many patients, like Sasha, seem to be fascinated by the Special K high. This is what mortified me that night when I realized how much he liked what ketamine was doing to his amazing brain. I was afraid that Sasha had tasted a forbidden fruit, peeked into a place he might never forget, one he might long for. Into a 9-year-old mind already struggling with so much adult turmoil, we had loosed a psychedelic snake proffering an alternative and apparently pleasant reality.
No comments:
Post a Comment