The last two weeks have brought death, tragedy, and injuries to the New Hampshire region.
Murder of two parents by an 11-year-old
Murder outside Manchvegas night club
Murder In Manchester on Sagamore St
Shootings
Stabbings
Fatal accidents
Suicides including bridge jumping, and shootings
Fatal overdoses
Deadly Fires
As a photojournalist, I run towards many of these events to cover them for the news industry. I also try my hardest to show the First Responders doing their jobs.
I am not a firefighter, EMT, Paramedic, Investigator or member of law enforcement. I am not someone who works in the ER seeing the victims. I am not the medical examiner who sees only the victims who didn’t make it.
Although I think my job is important, and I try to do it well I have the easy job.
I am not seeing what First Responders see at the scenes. I am not trying to save the lives of a stranger, sometimes winning and losing at the task.
There is always a rush to the scene and then after, I reflect on what just happened. How many First Responders were involved, and how many families and friends were affected.
This week while on the scene at Sagamore St I had a conversation with Wayne DiGeronimo who has seen the worse of the worse in over 20 years with the NH Medical Examiners Office.
I realized he NEVER gets called for a “good situation”. Only when the injuries were so extreme the person perished.
It made me reflect as a deceased man lay on the ground just feet away what First Responders see EVERY DAY.
They can’t “unsee” what they have rushed towards, and can’t ever forget what they saw.
Armchair quarterbacks and keyboard commandos sit at home questioning what these first responders do.
The large percentage of these people commenting have never even seen a deceased person, but they saw it on TV. The show(s) they watched made them know how to do it better than the trained professionals.
I could go on but I will close in saying the following which hopefully some people remember
Lastly, if you haven’t done something good for someone today YOU are the problem. First Responders do something EVERY DAY
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Everyone who opened the email update from him Friday saw the following
Disastrous… dis·as·trous adjective causing great damage
Some people were surprised at the wording, and sadly some were shocked that there is still a problem because they have been denying the epidemic is still an issue. Those people shocked continue to be the problem, and are living under a rock.
MFD, AMR, and MPD team members on the front lines are not shocked at all. They are living it every day, running towards the people who are nearly dead, and bringing them to a stable status.
It is not the people who are running Safe Station who shocked because they live it every day at MFD and Serenity place. They are seeing huge numbers of people coming through the door seeking help.
At the same time there are people who turn to press conferences to make the community feel better. They paint a picture that the problem is under control, it is getting better, and they are doing everything in their powers and they are the saviors. They are the same people you will not see right now as the crisis/epidemic is hemorrhaging out of control.
There are groups of people who say “let them die” but when asked if they would let their own child die and be refused Narcan the answer is always no. A person who was an advocate of “let them die” was faced last week with a step child who was found dead of an overdose, and maybe now has a little different perspective.
I am NOT a First Responder and never claim to be one. I am a photojournalist who is in the middle of documenting this epidemic and showing how hard these First Responders are trying. I am shocked to hear stories about how they are still willing to give 110% even though they know the same people will be treated soon again.
I witnessed first hand the people of MFD and AMR on a blazing hot day working a unresponsive man while people gathered. After 6 Narcan he came around, became verbally abusive, and the First Responders busting their backs still treated him with compassion.
I recently was told in a one on one conversation about a person who has checked in to Safe Station NINETEEN times. He is “working the system” but that person telling me the story said “what if this is the one time he is serious”.
I DON’T have the answer and honestly I don’t think anyone does. What I do say is thank you to the ones on the front lines doing everything they can. I say thank you to people like Chris Hickey for being HONEST, STRAIGHTFORWARD, and BLUNT.
I am positive Chris will get criticized by some for putting the shocking email out but maybe just maybe it is what everyone needs to see. Maybe a little “wake up call” will keep from people being complacent and think it is “Rainbows and Unicorns”
Lastly if you aren’t on the streets of Manchester everyday and want to see truly what is going on unfiltered go ride with MFD, AMR, and MPD. If you want to see it even more unfiltered come for a ride along with me. A one hour photo op at a press conference, or ride along is not “being in touch”
As I continue to cover Manchester for the news agencies, I also continue to show the unfiltered world Manchester citizens are living in.
Jeffrey Hastings / [email protected]
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July 29, 2017 - Manchester, NH - A call came in for a male unconscious / unresponsive in the men's room of the Dunkin Donuts on Candia Rd. Dispatch labeled it as a possible overdose situation. AMR, MFD, and MPD all responded to the scene as well as we did to document the situation as part of an opioid photo documentary we are working on.
Upon arrival, a Dunkin's employee was standing outside with a small boy approx 8 years old who was visibly upset and the employee was comforting him. MFD engine 8 arrived at the scene entering the building and updating that they had an apparent overdose, unresponsive male. AMR ALS 4 quickly arrived on scene and entered the building. MFD arrived including MPD Sgt Cunningham who quickly engaged with the Dunkins employee and the young boy. Sgt Cunningham knelt down to be at the boys level and began speaking to him and comforting him.
AMR / MFD continued to work the patient inside the building out of the view of the child. One of the AMR medics came out and spoke to the boy and let MPD know they were going to be coming out.
MPD officers took the boy over to the patio area where they spoke to him, calmed him, and kept him from the view of the adult male who had was being treated. The two MPD officers could be seen having conversations and keeping him engaged with them.
The adult male was removed from the building on a stretcher and according to radio communications with the hospital, he had been revived with Narcan the opiate reversing drug.
MPD searched the area for a potential car the male and boy came in. Sgt Cunningham called a relative who appeared in a short amount of time to take custody of the boy. As an observer based on age, it appeared to be the child's grandparents.
At this moment I ask you to concentrate on several heroes at the Candia Rd incident.
2 MFD Fire Fighters
1 MFD Lieutenant
2 AMR EMT’s / Paramedics
1 MPD Sergent
2 MPD Officers
1 Dunkin Donut Employee
Yes, we can all throw stones at the adult male and focus on bad decisions, but let us concentrate right now on the heroes and 1 young victim. All these heroes have to do this day after day and go home with it in their head. The young child is a victim having to face this at approx 8 years old and we should label him as a hero also.
Please, people, reach out and think about Fire, EMS, and Police and what they are facing in this opioid. We were able to document and share this with you, hopefully, it will help make everyone realize the people affected.
All I can say is a great job, and PLEASE concentrate on the heroes not the negatives for a moment.
Photos of scene - http://www.frameofmindphoto.com/od_072917
***Note this is part of a photo documentary we are working on to show all the people affected by the drug epidemic in the Southern, NH area. Should you have a personal story you would like to meet and tell us about please contact us at [email protected]
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