York County deputy uses NARCAN opioid antidote from recent training to save woman

A York County deputy used the NARCAN opioid antidote to save a woman from a drug overdose Tuesday night as politicians across the state admitted that a heroin and opioid epidemic in South Carolina is rampant.

The deputy, Steven Zike, found the woman stricken and unconscious in the bathroom of an Anderson Road motel in Rock Hill, a release from the York County Sheriff’s Office stated.

The woman regained consciousness after two doses of the NARCAN antidote that blocks or reverses opitae overdoses.

Several York County police agencies are now using NARCAN.

In late 2016, Rock Hill police used it three times to save potential overdose victims. In January, all deputies in York County were trained to use the antidote and the training and program worked exactly as designed, said Kevin Tolson, York County sheriff.

The woman admitted to police she had used heroin before she was helped by deputies and then EMS workers.

“My hope is that this individual will take this second, and perhaps only chance, to reevaluate her life choices and seek the help that she needs,” Tolson said.

South Carolina as a whole and York County specifically has seen a dramatic rise in opioid incidents in the past year-plus.

Wednesday in Columbia, legislators including Rep. Eric Bendingfield, R-Greenville, whose son died from a synthetic opioid in 2016, called the problem an epidemic.

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 5:00 PM with the headline "York County deputy uses NARCAN opioid antidote from recent training to save woman."