Sudbury Fire Saves Two Residents Who Overdosed on Opioids

Sudbury fire were able to save the lives recently of two residents who had overdosed on opioids by using Nasal Narcan, a product that immediately blocks the effects of the drugs.

Fire Chief William Miles reported in a press release that firefighters, who are also EMTs, quickly determined the patients had overdosed and deployed Narcan, which they were given again intravenously by Sudbury’s fire ambulance staff.

Both regained consciousness at the scene and were brought to Metrowest Medical Center in Framingham.

The EMTs first on scene were Lieutenant David Ziehler and Firefighter John Salmi. The Paramedics were Firefighters Shane Medeiros and Michael Kilgallen.

“Because of their quick thinking and action and the availability of Narcan, two lives were saved,” Chief Miles said. “Our firefighters undergo extensive training in emergency medicine, and unfortunately, drug overdoses are a brutally common problem throughout the nation. Thankfully, we were called just in time to help these two people.”

This is the fourth time that the Sudbury Fire Department has used Nasal Narcan.

Narcan works to reverse opioid overdose by immediately blocking the effects of opioids, which can slow or stop one’s breathing. It often wakes the patient up immediately. Opioids include drugs such as Heroin, morphine, oxycodone (Oxycontin), methadone, hydrocodone (Vicodin), codeine, and other prescription pain medications.

Opioid overdose is now one of the leading causes of death in Massachusetts, leading Former Governor Deval Patrick to declare it a public health crisis last March.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse describes opioids as “medications that relieve pain. They reduce the intensity of pain signals reaching the brain and affect those brain areas controlling emotion, which diminishes the effects of a painful stimulus. Medications that fall within this class include hydrocodone (e.g., Vicodin), oxycodone (e.g., OxyContin, Percocet), morphine (e.g., Kadian, Avinza), codeine, and related drugs.”

If someone you know exhibits signs of a drug overdose, call 911 immediately. Good Samaritan Laws also offer protections for callers from simple drug possession charges when seeking medical attention for an overdose victim.