HTTP/1.0 200 OK
Content-Type: text/html
County To Discuss Arming Deputies With Overdose Reversal Drug
Pubdate: Sun, 23 Jun 2013
Source: Watertown Daily Times (NY)
Copyright: 2013 Watertown Daily Times
Contact: http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/792
Author: Daniel Flatley
COUNTY TO DISCUSS ARMING DEPUTIES WITH OVERDOSE REVERSAL DRUG AT
TUESDAY'S MEETING
The Jefferson County Board of Legislators is set to discuss a policy
at Tuesday's Health and Human Services Committee meeting that would
arm sheriff's deputies with the overdose-reversal drug naloxone
hydrochloride, marketed under the name Narcan.
Narcan already is carried by the 13 advanced life support emergency
response agencies in the county, but overdoses are on the rise -- in
2012, EMS teams were dispatched to more than 300 overdose calls -- and
giving deputies the ability to use the drug is seen as a way to save
more lives in a predominantly rural county where they are often the
first to respond.
Some people have criticized the idea. They claim it will only
encourage drug addicts to take greater risks, according to Legislator
Anthony J. Doldo, R-Watertown, who has been supporting the measure
since attending a presentation about the drug a few weeks ago.
But the issue is more complex than that, Mr. Doldo
said.
"Whether they're a drug dealer or not, they're still somebody's kid,
or somebody's nephew or somebody's uncle. It could be a little kid who
gets into his parents' pain medication. If there's a chance to save
that life, how can you not take that chance? I think it's a great
thing and it'd be wrong to look the other way," Mr. Doldo said.
In a letter to Mr. Doldo, Sheriff John P. Burns said he would support
a decision from the Jefferson County Board of Legislators to allow his
deputies to carry Narcan, provided they receive the proper training to
administer it.
"I'm supportive of it as long as we get the training," Mr. Burns
said.
Narcan blocks the receptors in the brain affected by opioid drugs such
as prescription painkillers and heroin, reversing the respiratory
distress that can cause death.
Narcan traditionally has been injected into the body but now is
available in an intranasal form that can be sprayed into the nostrils
via an atomizer, making it easier and safer to administer.
The effects of the drug last about 30 minutes. Overdose patients who
receive the drug must be transported immediately to a medical
facility. Depending on the dosage of opioids, respiratory arrest still
may occur after the effects of Narcan wear off.
Narcan is not addictive and produces no pharmacological
effects.
Legislators first heard about the initiative during a presentation
given at the end of May by Charles F. Brenon III, director of
Jefferson County Emergency Medical Services, and Anita K.
Seefried-Brown, director of community prevention at the Alcohol and
Substance Abuse Council of Jefferson County.
If the county decides to pursue the measure, it most likely will
receive free kits from the New York City-based Harm Reduction
Coalition, which is under contract with the state Department of Health
to administer an opioid overdose prevention program, according to Ms.
Seefried-Brown.
After that, kits can be purchased for $10 to $12, Ms. Seefried-Brown
said.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Matt