Naloxone 95% Effective In Saving Overdose Victims In Union County

UNION COUNTY, NJ — The number of times police in Union County have used the lifesaving drug, naloxone, on overdose victims continues to rise.

The Union County Prosecutor's Office is reporting the number of police-administered naloxone has been used this year is at 219, as of Sept. 21. That is up five times from the previous week.

Since Sept. 14, police administered naloxone twice in Union and three times in Rahway.

Additionally, the number of overdose deaths in Union County remains at 67.

"Since police in Union County started using the lifesaving drug on overdose victims in 2014, it has been approximately 95 percent effective — in general, of every 20 recipients, 19 survive," UCPO stated.

The numbers are released weekly by the UCPO as part of its #confrontingacrisis campaign. It has already shown that the number of times police in Union County have used the lifesaving drug is more than ever.

In 2017 naloxone was used a total of 180 times and 161 in 2016, according to the UCPO.

The highest number of naloxone deployment remains in Union Township with 49, followed by Linden, Rahway, Elizabeth and Cranford.

Currently, Fanwood is the only town that has yet to have naloxone administered.

Here is a breakdown of the police-administered naloxone in Union County from Aug. 24 to Sept. 7:

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