"I knew I had to keep him talking"

Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
1

Should overdose victims be kept awake and ambulatory? (2004)

It’s a media meme not just restricted to overdose victims. Crime victims are reported the same way “I knew I had to keep him talking if I was ever going to get out of there”, and the “hero of the Thredbo mudslide” (who talked with a trapped victim for 11 hours) is reported the same way "he knew distraction would be crucial in keeping Stuart Diver alive. "

2

Situationally, it serves different purposes.

In a hostage/crime situation, talking can delay the person taking action, or it can be used to humanize the victim.

In your mudslide incident, the intent is to keep the person from panicking and either struggling and making the situation worse or giving up hope, which can lead to a person dying by surrendering “to the inevitable” and not mentally resisting.

3

In some ways it serves the same purpose … keep the person conscience and awake so they can walk away under their own power … beats having to carry them …

4

Opiates cause death by respiratory depression, you’re so stoned you forget to breathe. Stimulating someone with a borderline OD might well carry the day, although I wouldn’t bother trying to make them walk or talk coherently, I’d just keep reminding them to breathe. I wouldn’t expect that to work in a massive OD.

One thing that’s out of date in that article is that we don’t induce vomiting in the ER anymore (haven’t pumped a stomach in years either, thank Og).

5

And you have evidence (or even anecdotes) that this is what happens?

In any case, it wasn’t reported that he “thought” that “perhaps” Stuart “might” struggle or surrender. The report was that he “kenw” that Stuart had to keep talking.

I haven’t talked with Stuart Diver. I think it’s probable that he appreciated having someone to talk with as he lay trapped under a collapsed building in freezing* conditions. The man who lay there talking with him for 11 hours in freezing* conditions did make a contribution. The idea that talking to him had any other benefit is just one of those fantasies that newspapers tell people to make them important.
*metaphorically. Stuarts wife drowned in the accident.