Rock Hill police use nasal spray to save drug overdose victims amid rising problem
Police responded to 22 overdose cases in 2016, compared to only three in 2015, which has spawned a successful effort to save the victims.
Mark Bollinger, spokesman for the Rock Hill Police Department, said officers are having success using a spray that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
Rock Hill police and school resource officers were trained in late September to use NARCAN, a nasal spray of the medicine naloxone, which reverses the effects of opioid drug overdose, Bollinger said. They were trained to recognize symptoms of opioid overdose, including slow breathing or not breathing, blue lips or nails and gurgling or gasping sounds.
Of the 22 overdose cases, seven involved opioids, Bollinger said. Since September, officers have used the spray to revive three people.
“It works,” he said.
NARCAN does not harm people who have not overdosed, Bollinger said.
“It’s 100 percent safe to use,” he said.
Opioids are pain-reducing drugs, and include hydrocodone drugs such as Vicodin, oxycodone drugs, morphine, codeine and related drugs, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. These are considered habit-forming drugs.
Opioids are listed as the main cause of drug overdose deaths by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. The drugs were linked to 33,091 deaths in the U.S. in 2015.
Increases were mainly seen in the Northeast and South regions, according to the CDC.
“We are aware that it is had reached epidemic proportions in the Northeast and Midwest in the past two years,” Bollinger said. “We knew the issue was here in Rock Hill and York County.”
Police reported they successfully used NARCAN in these three cases:
▪ On Oct. 7, an officer found a 23-year-old woman unconscious and unresponsive on the bathroom floor of Scott’s Food Store in Rock Hill, according to a report. The incident was suspected to be an overdose. The officer gave the woman nasal NARCAN and was able to revive her, according to the report. Emergency Medical Service transported the victim to the hospital.
▪ On Dec. 2, an officer found an unconscious 25-year-old man in the parking lot of the Manchester shopping area in Rock Hill, according to a report. The incident was a possible opioid drug overdose, the report states. The officer used NARCAN to revive the victim, who was transported to the hospital.
▪ On Dec. 9, an officer found a 45-year-old man passed out behind the wheel of his car at the intersection of Main Street and Albright Road, according to a report. The man was not breathing, the report says. The officer pulled the man from the car and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. The situation was thought to be an opioid overdose and the officer administered NARCAN while another officer continued resuscitation, the report says. The victim was revived and transported to the hospital, the report states.
No further details on the three cases were available on reports.
Each officer is given two 4 mg doses of the nasal spray at a time, Bollinger said. He said 80 officers carry the spray, and there is no cost to the city.
The NARCAN program is funded by a grant through the Law Enforcement Officer Naloxone Program, according to the statement.
“As long as people are using opioids and it’s here, there will be a need for us to counteract it,” Bollinger said. “It’s another proactive tool to help citizens in our area. We want everybody to be able to live.”
This story was originally published December 30, 2016 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Rock Hill police use nasal spray to save drug overdose victims amid rising problem."