Pa. Off-Duty Probation Officer Saves Neighbor From Overdose With Naloxone

Dec. 16--A knock at the door of Carla Conte's Jeannette home interrupted her Cyber Monday shopping.

A woman sitting in a car on her street had overdosed on drugs, and her family needed Conte's help.

Instead of putting on shoes, Conte, a Westmoreland County probation officer, grabbed a kit with two doses of the antidote naloxone and raced to her neighbor's aid.

"I was just amazed to see her go into action," said her husband, Lou Conte. "She didn't hesitate; she was just, boom, out the door."

Westmoreland County commissioners on Thursday honored Carla Conte's quick action the night of Nov. 28 to save the woman's life.

She was among 85 adult probation office employees, including 53 officers, who were trained by the Westmoreland Drug & Alcohol Commission in August and September to administer the overdose reversal drug in response to the growing drug epidemic that claimed the lives 6,125 Pennsylvanians in 2014 and 2015.

So far in 2016, 105 fatal overdoses have been confirmed in Westmoreland and 53 other deaths are being investigated as such, according to coroner statistics. Between 2012 and 2015, 377 people fatally overdosed on drugs in the county.

Department director Sharon Bold said employees have access to the kits at probation offices, and officers have the option of carrying them.

Conte wasn't on duty as a probation officer at the time, but it was the commission's training and kit that enabled her to revive the woman. Shortly after, Jeannette police and paramedics arrived at the scene, she said.

"That was probably kind of frightening," Commissioner Ted Kopas said to Conte after the acknowledgement during Thursday's meeting.

"I feel like I'm very well-trained," said Conte, who has been a Westmoreland probation officer for 17 years.

She recalled feeling confident, yet nervous, about administering naloxone for the first time after her training. She has since gotten a new kit and carries it with her at all times.

"I was just praying that it was going to work," Conte said.

She went an extra step the next day -- Conte talked to the woman she helped save and offered her phone number and treatment resources. She is hopeful the woman will seek help but said she's glad she won't have to send her neighbors a sympathy card.

"So now when she comes out, she can wave and smile," Conte said.

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-837-5374 or rsignorini@tribweb.com.

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