San Diego Criminal Attorneys Blog
Supposedly a new medication exists to help overdose victims on the verge of death caused by opiate overuse. Officers at the Santee Sheriff’s station have started carrying the new drug as part of a pilot program; they have been using them in the field for about two weeks. Even though the officers have carried the drug on their persons for the past two weeks, it had remained unused up until this past Wednesday. The mother of a 37-year-old victim, a known heroin user, called 911 around 8am to get emergency help with the overdose of her son. Her son was lying unconscious with no pulse in their home on Bradley Avenue in Bostonia. Sheriff’s sergeant Scott Hill was the first emergency responder to arrive on the scene and immediately gave the unconscious man the new drug. The drug, called Naloxone, is designed to reverse the affects of opiate overdoses and moments after Sgt. Hill sprayed the nasal solution in the victim’s nose he started breathing again. As soon as the victim started breathing again he was taken to a nearby hospital for continued treatment. Using a drug like this is designed to buy more time and not cure the overdose completely and in doing so has the potential to save many lives. The drug is undergoing a six-month test to see if using it permanently as a utility for officers is a realistic and helpful option. Part of the research is being done by UC San Diego.
Sources:
“Sheriff Makes First Use of Anti-Overdose Medication” – Times of San Diego