CSI Miami and the Epi-Pen as a murder weapon

Kathy L., I am always kinda leery when I see yet another television program showing the Epi-pen or peanut allergy as a murder weapon.
I do understand, as I have posted in different threads under Media, that certainly this is getting information about the severity of the allergy out there. However, it's kind of disturbing to me regardless.
A week ago on Boomtown, which I tuned in to and quickly tuned out of, one of the EMT's was kidnapped and her weapon (which she ended up not having to use) was going to be a huge dose of epinephrine (the med in the Epi-pen).
With the huge dose of epinephrine, her captor's heart would have stopped, rather than been jump started. Or, it's jump started so severely (because of an overdose of the epinephrine) that he dies.
As soon as she began searching around in the ambulance for something that could kill her captor, I immediately knew (don't know how) that she was looking for epinephrine. But I said an Epi-pen. DH then explained to me that no, he wouldn't be getting a single dose that you get from an Epi-pen, he would be getting a massive dose. Big difference.
Also, in the movie Pulp Fiction, when Uma Thurman suffers the drug overdose, she is given a huge injection of adrenaline, which I believe is similar or the same as epinephrine. This didn't kill her but simply revived her from a drug overdose.
So, yes, I believe a massive dose of epinephrine would kill someone, but not the type of dosing that you're getting from either an Epi-pen Jr. or Epi-pen.
With Jesse's last anaphylactic reaction, he had to have two Epi-pen shots. They were administered quite a bit of time apart. I do know that my instructions with the school are that should he have a reaction, he is to have an Epi-pen shot and then, if the ambulance has not arrived, another one 15-20 minutes later if there are no signs of recovery. So, I believe the dose in an Epi-pen shot, administered 20 minutes apart, is *fairly* safe.
I can't speak from experience though about what your child actually experiences when this happens though, because, as I say, with his last anaphylactic reaction there was quite a space in time before he received the second Epi-pen shot.
I'm not clear how much of a dose would have to be given to kill someone (you could probably check on-line at a pharmacy - I use [url="http://www.mayoclinic.com"]www.mayoclinic.com[/url] - to see what the cautions are that go with an Epi-pen).
But no, somewhere in my head, when I was watching Boomtown, I knew that she could use the epinephrine to kill her captor and that's what she grabbed, so yes, a massive dose would kill someone.
Again, I do find it kinda disconcerting to see these things show up on television shows and they do seem to be becoming quite prevalent (I haven't checked out CSI Miami yet, I really should). It does raise awareness but again, I'm not clear that it's raising awareness in people that don't need to know the information (i.e., are we letting people know how to kill our children?).
For more discussion on this, I would really check out the Media section and see the different shows that have been posted about there where anaphylaxis, PA, and Epi-pens have been used for murderous reasons.
I know that I have personally posted about Nash Bridges and Law & Order (both the regular one - latex anaphylaxis, and Criminal Intent - PA). I know that when I saw Nash Bridges, it was the first time I saw PA used as a way to kill someone and I was quite taken aback especially because it happened to be my PA son's favourite show at the time.
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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Kathy L., did anyone question you when you picked your daughter up? Funny thing. I never even thought of it and Jesse is actually wearing his in his Epi-belt all day at school. None of the kids in his class (Grade 2) would watch the show so he probably didn't get any comments.
I didn't wait with the Moms and Dads outside of the classroom doors tonight after school like I usually do (had an errand run late) so I'm wondering if they would have asked me tonight the same question because Jesse has one on his person (everyone can see it, he doesn't hide it) and I have one in my purse (one of the few things in my purse). And it's one of those things that probably blips through people's heads and they wouldn't remember to ask me tomorrow because it is a TV show thing.
But CSI Miami is SO popular right now. I can well imagine. It would be interesting if anyone got any comments because of it.
And you're so right, you go into your diatribe and then it's really not what people want to hear anyway, they probably just want a yes or no and it's not as simple as that, and they do lose interest after the 4th word.
So true.
Again, if it's raising awareness re food allergies or even bee stings, great, but I still have that cautionary thing going on whenever I see something in the media. I'm really mixed about it and again especially when I see it becoming more and more a theme of murders in the various shows (I believe there is also a thread or several threads under Media about PA being used comically on one network, in specific's, sitcoms).
I wonder if there is a common writer on these dramas and perhaps he/she is doubly aware of food allergies for some reason. Hmm. I'm not going conspiracy theory with this, but I do find it interesting that it is popping up more and more and more.
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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gw, you're absolutely correct. You get the Epi-pen shot which basically buys you time to get to the hospital. Then, if you haven't recovered within 20 minutes (or 15), and the ambulance hasn't arrived or you're not at the hospital (even though I don't drive, I still personally say ambulance because I think I'd be too upset to drive, but that's just me), you can have another Epi-pen shot.
And, it sounds like the person who gave him the Epi-pen shot for his shellfish reaction was like a lot of people, including myself, that didn't know anything about an anaphylactic reactions and were not given complete instructions re the use of an Epi-pen by any doctor (I forget how many didn't tell me).
That's why, when Jesse had his last anaphylactic reaction, he was given the Epi-pen and we didn't know to go to emerg. He started to *go* 20 minutes later (we didn't have a second Epi-pen even at that time) and it was at that point that I was driven to the hospital from a remote place in the country. That's why Jesse almost died.
Because I was ignorant. That's kinda why I'm here all the time, so I can keep telling the story, as need be, so that other parents learn and never experience what my DH and I did, almost losing our child. It is a terrible thing and yet, it was a real wake-up call for us (at Jesse's expense [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/frown.gif[/img] ).
How do you kill someone with nicotine in a condom? Now, that's interesting [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/eek.gif[/img]
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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Kathy L., this proved to be discussion fodder for DH and I last night because I told him about the show (he has watched CSI Miami before but not that episode). He just told me not to worry about it, that no one's going to think we're walking around with murder weapons. And that's probably true. Or, it's something that would blip into other people's brains (as things often do into mine [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/rolleyes.gif[/img] ) and then blips right back out again and they don't say a thing to you about it.
Let us know though if anyone does say anything to you. I'd be interested in what was said and your response.
Best wishes! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
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