Narcan Again Used in the Bayshore Region

Union Beach, NJ - Narcan was again used to save a resident's life from a heroin overdose this month in the Bayshore region.

On March 5, police in Union Beach used Narcan on an unconscious woman. Police were called to a Park Avenue home, where the woman was unresponsive in the bathroom. At first, officers thought she was simply very drunk. However, once it was learned she had overdosed on heroin, the officers injected her with Narcan and started doing CPR.

She regained consciousness a short time later and was transported to the hospital. If you call 911 for a possible drug overdose, police stressed it is vital that you tell officers and EMS crews the truth about what drugs the victim had just taken.

Two days after that, on March 7, Holmdel police had to use Narcan for a man suspected of a heroin overdose at a home on Richards Way. The man was found unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing.

As Patch has reported before, some police officers in New Jersey argue Narcan is being used too often and creates a safety net for heroin users.

“We’ve had people that have literally been ‘Narcanned’ in excess of five to 10 times,” Toms River Police Chief Mitchell Little told 10101Wins on March 3. “We are criticized sometimes, like how many times are you going to Narcan somebody?"

Little is asking NJ lawmakers to insert a clause in existing state law that says if an opiate overdose victim is saved by Narcan and refuses further medical treatment, that person can be arrested and prosecuted, reports 1010Wins. As the law is written now, if an overdose victim receives further medical treatment after Narcan is used, they cannot be charged with a drug crime.

Narcan is given either by an intramuscular injection into the arm, thigh or buttocks, or via a nasal spray. The drug can revive an unconscious person within 5 minutes, and often much quicker than that. Narcan works by knocking out of the opiate receptors in the brain. Many police departments now carry Narcan syringes, or the nasal spray.

Image: Someone injecting heroin in their vein. Wikimedia Commons