Pa. Police Reversed 289 Overdoses, State Says

Aug. 31--Police in Pennsylvania have revived 289 people using overdose-reversal medication that they were approved to carry late last year, the Wolf administration announced Monday.

"Pennsylvania has been seeing a sharp increase in drug overdoses across the state. Having naloxone kits in the hands of our first responders, who are often first on the scene, can make the difference between life and death," Gary Tennis, secretary of the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, said in a statement.

About 2,400 residents died from drug overdoses in 2013, the most recent figures available. A majority of those deaths were likely due to opioids -- mainly prescription pain pills or heroin.

Naloxone is an emergency medication that immediately blocks the effects of an opioid overdose, restoring breathing. Police, who often arrive before paramedics, can administer it easily, often via nasal spray.

The medication, which is also sold under the brand name Narcan, is not a narcotic and has no effect on conditions not caused by opioids. It typically is administered when a subject is found unconscious and barely breathing, if it all, when there is no time to wait for an emergency medical technician.

It is impossible to tell how many of the 289 people revived by the police would have died otherwise. Some might have come around on their own or been taken to a hospital and received treatment there.

Delaware County, the first in the state to equip local police departments after the law changed in November, has reported at least 84 overdose reversals. Pennsylvania State Police began carrying the medication in the spring. Monday's news release from the state said that 27 of the state's 67 counties had reported that local police were carrying naloxone or would be soon.

But 82 percent of local departments that responded to a Center for Rural Pennsylvania survey in May said they were not yet carrying the medication, center officials said earlier this summer.

The change in Pennsylvania law also allows families and friends of opioid users to purchase naloxone by prescription. Experts say that most overdoses are observed by someone else, who could save them.

dsapatkin@phillynews.com

215-854-2617

@DonSapatkin

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