Rock Hill officers now carrying life-saving antidote for opioid overdoses

Rock Hill police officers are now carrying a drug that could reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and help the victim survive until paramedics arrive.

The department is one of only several agencies in the state that has trained and equipped its officers with Naloxone, a fast-acting antidote that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses the effects of an overdose.

The drug, which goes by the brand name Narcan, has been used by EMS personnel since the 1970s but is being given to law enforcement to fight a heroin epidemic that has gripped the nation.

The move to give Narcan for officers was part of a multi-pronged approach announced over the summer by city and county officials. During that June press conference, it was announced that heroin-overdose deaths had increased in York County from zero in 2011 to nine in 2015, and that the York County Coroner’s Office had handled seven heroin-related deaths in the first five months of this year.

Ohio has been one of the hardest-hit states in the epidemic, with more than 3,000 accidental overdose deaths last year – of which more than a third were related to fentanyl, a type of opioid, according to the Associated Press.

“We’re trying to get on the forefront of it so we don’t have that problem,” said Maj. Steven Thompson of the Rock Hill Police Department. “We have seen an uptick in people overdosing. We felt it best to go ahead and equip our officers so that we would have this tool if we need it.”

Officers are trained to recognize the signs of an overdose and determine if a victim has overdosed or is simply high, Thompson said. If an officer suspects an overdose, he or she administers the Narcan like a nasal spray into the person’s nose.

Thompson explained that opioids have a stronger reaction to the Narcan than to brain cells, and that the antidote works by displacing the opioids for a temporary time.

“What the opioids do is they depress you and your body to such a point that you actually stop breathing,” he said. “What we’re carrying is enough to keep that person alive until EMS personnel get on the scene.”

Narcan has no side effects if it is administered to someone who is, in fact, not overdosing on opioids.

The drug typically comes in two forms: a nasal spray or an EpiPen injection, according to Thompson. Rock Hill Police opted for the nasal spray, which is about $75 for two doses as opposed to the EpiPens, which cost about $3,800.

The cost for the drug is covered by a grant through the Law Enforcement Officer Naloxone program, Thompson said. The grant also covers the cost of replenishing doses after they are used.

About 90 Rock Hill officers are carrying the drug with them, including the entire patrol division, narcotics investigators and school resource officers. Thompson said every law enforcement agency in York County sent representatives to last week’s training at the Rock Hill Law Center, and that each officer received two doses of the drug after completing the training.

EMS crews carry stronger antidotes that are administered through IV.

“York County is actually one of the counties statewide that has seen an uptick in EMS dispending of Narcan in the past few years,” Thompson said.

The Rock Hill Fire Department regularly responds to medical calls, and Deputy Chief Mark Simmons said some of their firefighters are trained to administer the IV antidote; however, they will soon undergo training in the nasal Narcan, since changes in state protcol now allow them to administer it.

“We just got it in,” he said. “As soon as we get trained on it, we’re going to move to the nasal as well.”

Since completing the Narcan training on Sept. 30, one Rock Hill officer already came close to administering the Narcan to an overdose patient, Thompson said, but EMS arrived quickly enough to administer the IV drug to the patient.

“I hope we never have to use it,” he said. “But if we do, if we can save just one life, then it’s well worth it.”

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Rock Hill officers now carrying life-saving antidote for opioid overdoses."