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Farmdale woman revived after 16 doses of naloxone, kids in back seat
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
A woman, 28, of Farmdale recovered from a drug overdose Saturday night outside the Taco Bell on Elm Road after medical personnel administered 16 rounds of the opiate-reversal drug naloxone.
Patricia A. Bloom of Gardner Barclay Road did not appear for her arraignment Monday morning in Warren Municipal Court, where she faces two counts of child endangering and single counts of possession of drugs and drug-abuse instruments.
Police were called at 8:07 p.m. for a female part way in the trunk of her car and part way out, unconscious. Her feet were on the ground, she was bent at the waist, and the upper part of her body was in the trunk.
“I attempted to wake her but only got snorts as she was trying to breathe,” Sgt. Greg Coleman, wrote in a police report.
The drug and paraphernalia charges relate to a pink pencil box Coleman found in the trunk that contained 20 hypodermic needles, one of which held a liquid that was collected as evidence. Also in the box was a metal spoon with a wet cotton ball on it and a glass crack pipe.
Her children, girls age 3 and 4, were locked in the back seat of the car initially, but Taco Bell employees were consoling them inside the car by the time police arrived. They were taken home by relatives, police said.
Bloom had been part way in the trunk for almost a half-hour, restaurant employees said.
Ambulance personnel took Bloom to ValleyCare Trumbull Memorial Hospital, where Coleman learned later that it took 16 rounds of naloxone to revive her.
Trumbull County Coroner Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk said 16 doses of naloxone may sound unbelievable, but he learned at a National Association of Medical Examiner’s conference he recently attended that it is “not unusual.”
The reason is that the doses people are taking are becoming increasingly powerful and are being mixed more and more with other drugs.
Toxicology results for the 10 most recent Trumbull County overdose deaths included fentanyl, but none involved the more powerful carfentanil, he said. Those deaths date back two months or more because of the time it takes to get toxicology results.
Kathy Parilla, public-health nurse for the Trumbull County Board of Health, said the greater strength of the drugs in the community has increased the number of doses police administer, but the most common amount is two.
Usually by that time, the person is starting to come around and ambulance personnel have arrived.
Last year, the sheriff’s office and Warren police department started carrying naloxone, but the number of departments has steadily grown to 10, plus the Warren Fire Department. Warren police have by far used the most so far with 58 kits.