Crime & Safety

Police Would Carry Heroin Antidote To Reverse Overdoses

Antidote is a nasal inhalant

All 33 police agencies in Ocean County early next year could begin carrying a heroin antidote that can reverse the effects of those overdosing on the drug, according to the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.

With more than 100 drug overdose deaths throughout Ocean County in 2013 so far and county agencies proclaiming an epidemic in the dealing and consumption of heroin, the antidote would be carried by local police EMS who are often the first responders to overdose calls.

Al Della Fave of the county prosecutor’s office said the antidote will be paid for by money seized from drug dealers, called “forfeiture dollars.”

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The antidote, according to the Associated Press, is nasal inhalant form of Narcan, which is the brand name of the prescription drug naloxone. It costs $25 for each inhalant. The county expects training the police force to take about 90 days, and that police responders will begin carrying the antidote as early next year, the Associated Press reported.

Fave said the cost of equipping and training police with the antidote will be paid solely through the use of forfeited drug money, and involves no taxpayer dollars.

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“Program will be paid for with drug forfeiture monies,” Fave announced in a post from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. “Dealers will pay to save the lives of those they victimize.”

The drug aids in reversing the effects of heroin and other opiates, allowing first responders to address an overdose as the victim is transported to the hospital for further treatment.


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