Paramedics Likely Saved Life of Woman Who OD'd on Heroin

Wauwatosa Fire Department paramedics may have saved the life of a troubled woman whose parents were trying to help her with depression but did not know she had become a heroin user.

She overdosed at their home, they called 911, and she lived. It's possible she will also face charges for possession and use of a Schedule I narcotic.

According to police reports:

At 7:13 p.m. Monday, the 28-year-old Wauwatosa woman was taken to Froedtert Hospital after her mother found her unconscious and unresponsive from an apparent overdose of heroin.

Fire Department paramedics were able to revive her at the home in the 9600 block of Harding Boulevard. The police report did not say how she was revived, but paramedics carry Narcan, an antidote to opiate overdose.

The woman's mother told police that her daughter had moved back home about a year ago and was being treated for depression, but she did not know her to be using any illegal drugs. She said her daughter had gone to a job interview earlier in the day and had texted her that things were going well.

When she returned home about 6 p.m., the mother found the door to her daughter’s room closed and all quiet. She believed her daughter to be napping. At 7 p.m., she went to check on her and found her unconscious, unresponsive and having vomited in her bed.

Her father also said he did not know her to have been using any illegal drugs, but told police he had found a case next to her bed containing drug paraphernalia.

Officers inspected it and found hypodermic needles, cotton swabs, alcohol wipes, lighters, a spoon, and a folded paper envelope containing .012 gram of what proved to be heroin.

Interviewed briefly at the hospital, the woman admitted she had used heroin to get high but not to intentionally harm herself. She was not questioned further because she was still being treated. Her case was turned over to the Special Operations Group of the Wauwatosa Police Department for further investigation.