News

Fla. City`s Police Use Naloxone at Sober Home on Program`s First Day

Lulu Ramadan

03/03/2016

March 03--Less than 24 hours after Delray Beach police announced officers would be equipped with a life-saving heroin overdose antidote, they had to use it to save an unresponsive 20-year-old.

And it happened at a sober home.

Just before 3 a.m. Wednesday, two sergeants were called to an Atlantic Coast Sober Living residence on Swinton Avenue and found a man turned on his side in the bathtub. Next to him was a spoon and a needle, the police report says.

Despite attempts to wake him, he wouldn't respond.

The sergeants had to use Narcan, a nasal spray containing the drug naloxone, which can snap an unresponsive overdose victim back to life. It was the first day officers were equipped with the drug.

"I wish I could say I was surprised, but we've been averaging sometimes three overdoses a day," said Chief Jeff Goldman, who announced just Tuesday that Delray Beach Police Department would be the first law enforcement agency in Palm Beach County equipped with the drug.

The incident happened at Atlantic Coast Sober Living, a recovery residence at 612 S. Swinton Ave., said its owner Mark McGinley. McGinley runs Sober City Recovery Centers, which operates at least three sober homes in Palm Beach County.

Despite testing their residents three times a week, searching them for drugs and giving them curfews, the 20-year-old managed to sneak heroin into the home, certified by Florida Association of Recovery Residences.

"It's really hard. If somebody wants to use, they're going to use," McGinley said. "The only thing you can do is try to get these guys to go to a meeting, get a sponsor, give them curfews, search them."

The recovery residence has been around for a year, McGinley said. In this case, employees called police right away.

"We're so happy the Delray Beach Police Department is carrying Narcan," said McGinley, who is familiar with city police's efforts after attended Delray Beach Drug Task Force meetings. "I feel a lot of lives will be saved in those three, four, five minutes it takes to administer the drug."

The 20-year-old was conscious and alert within minutes of sergeants administering the nasal spray, Goldman said.

"It's rewarding to see that our officers were able to use (the drug) and save someone's life," Goldman said.

Since January, 10 deaths in the city appear to be because of heroin overdoses, police say.

The spray gives officers a chance to administer the drug before paramedics arrive, often making the difference between life and death, Goldman said.

The nasal spray is similar to an intravenous drip of naloxone which paramedics inject in overdose patients. Delray Beach Fire Rescue has used naloxone 77 times since January.

"It's an epidemic," Goldman says. It's one city police have made it their mission to curb.

The department targets dealers, who often offer free doses of heroin to young people to get them hooked, Goldman said.

They also market Good Samaritan Law, which in these cases offers protection to people who report overdoses to police. They don't have to worry about being arrested if police find needles or other paraphernalia at the scene.

Police spokeswoman Dani Moschella and a retired officer visit recovery centers and remind people that they are protected should they report possible overdoses immediately to save time.

They hope the drug education, along with access to Narcan, will reduce the number of overdose deaths in the city, Goldman said.

"It's a problem. Now, you can either embrace it and engage in it or you can bury your head in the sand," he said. "And we're not ones to bury our heads."