"The people who walk away, they're the lucky ones," executive director Lisa Sauder told the Alaska Dispatch News (http://bit.ly/1Z31Kae ) as she and Boyd watched paramedics treat two men they said smoked the synthetic drug Spice outside their cafe. Anchorage emergency workers say they have noticed a dramatic spike in the number of medical emergencies related to Spice since mid-summer, and the problem has become so widespread that the city is asking for help from federal authorities. "Anecdotally, we see much more Spice now than meth and heroin combined," said Erich Scheunemann, assistant chief of emergency medical service operations at the Anchorage Fire Department. In the emergency room, the number of Spice emergencies varies day to day -- from a slow trickle of cases to deluge of patients the next day, according to Alaska regional Hospital ER physician and chief medical officer David Cadogan. Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz has also proposed a budget increase for police and fire departments and hired a homeless coordinator, Nancy Burke.