St. Louis County police officers are being equipped with and trained in the use of the heroin antidote Narcan.
Late last week, County officials announced that all commissioned police personnel will be trained to use the medication, which will be available in every St. Louis County patrol vehicle.
Narcan is the brand name for naloxone hydrochloride, a nasal spray or injectable drug administered to persons known or suspected of having an opioid overdose. The police department is using the nasal spray.
“Make no mistake, the heroin epidemic is not only prevalent in St. Louis County, but throughout the entire nation,” added St. Louis County Chief of Police Jon Belmar. “By equipping County police officers with Narcan, we have a real opportunity to save lives, as often times the police are the first responders on the scene of an overdose emergency. We saw over 90 heroin related deaths in St. Louis County in 2015. If we can cut into that number by equipping police with Narcan, it is a major step in the fight against the epidemic.”
Narcan works by attaching to the same parts of the brain that receive heroin and other opioids. Narcan blocks the opioids for 30-90 minutes to reverse the respiratory depression that would otherwise lead to death from overdose. Narcan can help even if opioids are taken with alcohol or other drugs.
After a dose of Narcan, the person should begin to breathe more normally and it will become easier to wake them. It is very important to give help to an overdosing person right away. Brain damage can occur within only a few minutes of an opioid overdose as the result of a lack of oxygen to the brain.
Narcan (naloxone) gives concerned helpers a window of opportunity to save a life by providing extra time to call 911 and carry out rescue breathing and first aid until emergency medical help arrives.
St. Louis County Executive Steve Stenger said the county is attacking the heroin epidemic from all angles. “We are training and equipping our officers with Narcan. We are devoting police and county resources toward educating the public,” he said. “And at my urging this week, the county council introduced legislation to establish Prescription Drug Monitoring to prevent an individual from receiving multiple prescriptions for opioids, which are gateway drugs to heroin.”
