During this pandemic I feel that I can see the angel wings on some people whose feathers are deeds
"When you give someone Narcan, you’re touching them, and in the early days of COVID when I saw someone going out I didn’t think about putting on gloves, my first response was to get to that person and give them Narcan and check on them and then after it was over it would dawn on me, Did I take the necessary precautions? Did I touch my face? Did I sanitize my hands? And in the rush of the moment you don’t think about those things because your priority and your objective is to get to that person and help them. In those instances you’re not thinking about yourself, you’re thinking about that person who’s on the verge of dying.
"My father died from an overdose, by himself, and sat in a room for three days. Alone. I never wanted anyone to experience that, or feel like no one cared if they lived or died. I never wanted anyone who overdosed to be alone, and unfortunately that’s not how these tend to happen. You can give people Narcan in hopes they use it, you can reverse an overdose and tell that person to be careful and inform people if they’er using just to be safe, but many times it doesn’t happen this way. You never know if someone who overdoses will make it. So I wasn’t thinking too much about my safety, I was thinking I have to make sure that this person lives. I have to do everything possible with my being to make sure this person has a fighting chance. COVID and all-this person has to make it."
Jose Caraballo is a Harm Reduction Specialist with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, working with people experiencing homelessness and substance use disorder in the Kensington area of Philadelphia.
April 29, 2021 - 403 days after the stay at home order
Click to enlarge
Leica M10, TTArtisans 21mm f1.5 Sunpak 622 flash. Printed through a discarded surgical mask.
BetweenUsAndCatastrophe.com
"My father died from an overdose, by himself, and sat in a room for three days. Alone. I never wanted anyone to experience that, or feel like no one cared if they lived or died. I never wanted anyone who overdosed to be alone, and unfortunately that’s not how these tend to happen. You can give people Narcan in hopes they use it, you can reverse an overdose and tell that person to be careful and inform people if they’er using just to be safe, but many times it doesn’t happen this way. You never know if someone who overdoses will make it. So I wasn’t thinking too much about my safety, I was thinking I have to make sure that this person lives. I have to do everything possible with my being to make sure this person has a fighting chance. COVID and all-this person has to make it."
Jose Caraballo is a Harm Reduction Specialist with the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, working with people experiencing homelessness and substance use disorder in the Kensington area of Philadelphia.
April 29, 2021 - 403 days after the stay at home order
Click to enlarge
Leica M10, TTArtisans 21mm f1.5 Sunpak 622 flash. Printed through a discarded surgical mask.
BetweenUsAndCatastrophe.com