Sydney [Australia], March 30: A woman had died and two others were hospitalized after a mass drug overdose took place in the Australian state of Queensland overnight.
Just before 11:00 p.m. local time on Friday, emergency services responded to reports of multiple drug overdoses occurring at a hotel in Surfers Paradise, a beachside suburb in the city of Gold Coast.
Upon arrival, paramedics identified a total of seven patients at the scene.
"One was in cardiac arrest at the time. Unfortunately, despite specialists' attempts, which included a high acuity response unit, that patient was unable to be revived at the scene and was declared deceased," Queensland Ambulance Service Senior Operations Supervisor Mitchell Ware said at a press conference held on Saturday.
Another two females were transported to Gold Coast University Hospital in critical condition. One continued to fight for life in the intensive care unit on Saturday morning, while the other was now classified as stable.
Besides, the four remaining people were also assessed at the scene but didn't need transport for further treatment.
The drugs involved currently remain to be confirmed, and the state police force will prepare a toxicology report.
"We spoke about this, about two weeks ago, this concept of party drugs or recreational drugs. There is no such thing as a safe drug. There is no such thing as a party drug. When people are buying these drugs, there is an element of risk," Ware noted.
He expressed "frustration" over people's disregard for the warning, noticing that drug overdoses "happen every day" across the state and it is "very common" for paramedics to attend to multiple patients on a daily basis.
"That is not just a one-off. The other night, we had three patients that all went unconscious in Southport. These events are becoming far more regular and obviously occupy a lot of the ambulances and a lot of the Queensland Ambulance Services resources as well," said Ware.
Source: Xinhua
