Opioid Overdose Patient Revived with Narcan

The North Reading Police Department successfully saved an opioid overdose patient using the drug Narcan over the past weekend.

On Saturday, Officers Sean O’Leary and Jason Connolly administered two doses of Nasal Narcan to an unconscious man who was barely breathing and unresponsive due to an overdose, officials say.

Narcan, also known as Naloxone, can immediately reverse the effects of overdoses of opioid drugs such as heroin, OxyContin, Percocet, Percodan, and hydrocodone drugs like Vicodin.

The man, who was barely breathing and unresponsive, regained consciousness immediately after the second Narcan dose was administered. He was then brought to a local hospital for further treatment, police say.

In June, North Reading Police officers were trained on how to use Narcan to help save lives, Chief of Police Michael Murphy said.

Read more about North Reading’s fight against opioid use.

“Drug overdose is an unfortunate reality in all of our communities, and North Reading is not going to turn a blind eye toward the crisis,” Murphy said.

After opioid overdose became one of the leading causes of death in Massachusetts, Governor Deval Patrick declared the issue a public health crisis in March.

Read Patch’s story on the increase in heroin overdoses in Massachusetts.