Sheriff's Pilot Program Saves Overdose Victim as Heroin Deaths Skyrocket in OC

A pilot program being tested by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department in Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel and Stanton likely saved the life of an overdose victim Tuesday.

The program was spurred on by an alarming 84 percent increase in heroin overdoses in Orange County between 2012 and 2014, said Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock. Last year, the vast majority of the county’s overdose deaths (263 of 376) were opiate-related.

On Tuesday, a 51-year-old man in Stanton nearly became another statistic.

Deputies carrying an antidote as part of the pilot program were called to a motel in Stanton about 1:45 p.m. Tuesday, where they found a man unconscious and apparently not breathing, according to Hallock.

Within three minutes, deputies were on the scene, and after seeing signs of an overdose administered Naloxone to the man, Hallock said.

His breathing appeared to quickly improve, and paramedics administered another dose of the medication, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said.

The man was taken to an area hospital, where he was treated further and appears to have survived a near-fatal overdose, Hallock and Concialdi said.

Concialdi credited deputies for so quickly responding to the scene and treating the victim.

“He was coming around at the hospital,” Concialdi said. “He was still groggy, and not talking yet, but coming around.”

Sheriff’s deputies only recently started the six-month pilot program. After it’s completed, officials will consider expanding the program to all of the cities the sheriff patrols including Lake Forest, Rancho Santa Margarita, and San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, and Rossmoor.

Affluent communities are not immune from the heroin problem, Hallock said. Often the addiction starts with prescription pill abuse, and when the pills become too expensive, addicts switch to heroin because it’s cheaper, Hallock explained.

“It’s no less of a problem in South County than the rest of Orange County,” Hallock said.”We are seeing a high proportion of overdoses in Laguna Niguel, San Clemente and Dana Point where there are lot of sober living homes.”

Funding for the program comes from proceeds in drug seizure and forfeiture cases, Hallock added.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.