Narcan: Arlington First Responders Reverse 29 Overdoses in 2015

UPDATE: The Arlington Police Department released revised statistics on Tuesday.

ARLINGTON, MA — The increased availability of Nasal Naloxone, otherwise known as Narcan, in Arlington has helped the APD make significant progress in reversing fatal opioid overdoses.

According to an Arlington Police Department press release on Monday, first responders used Narcan 29 times to reverse potentially fatal opioid overdoses in 2015. Additionally, Narcan was also administered by friends and family of overdose victims six times.

“One overdose or death is one too many,” Chief Fredrick Ryan said in the release. “However, thanks to the aggressive deployment of Narcan and rapid police response, we have been able to make a difference, giving suffering people another opportunity to retake their lives. There is no recovery from death, but there is recovery from addiction. We are very proud of our progress, but we acknowledge that much work remains in combating this epidemic.”

Forty overdoses were reported in Arlington last year which resulted in five deaths; Three during the first six months of the year, and just two in September after the town launched the Arlington Outreach Initiative.

Ryan also credited the success in part to the town’s partnership with the Police Assisted Addiction Recovery Initiative, citing that Arlington was able to make Narcan more available and affordable to those in need.