Boulder police begin carrying Narcan to fight opiate overdoses

June 27--The Boulder Police Department has become the first in the state to begin carrying naloxone, a drug used by emergency responders to reverse the effects of opiate overdoses from drugs such as heroin.

About 60 to 70 Boulder police officers over the next few weeks will be equipped with nasal atomizers containing Narcan, one of the trade names for naloxone.

"We know that in opiate overdose situations, administering Narcan can save somebody's life," said Boulder police Deputy Chief Curtis Johnson. "Nationally, there are other agencies that have begun to equip their officers with Narcan and have had success in preventing overdose deaths."

Patty Brezovar, testing counselor for Boulder County Public Health, said Narcan reverses opiate overdoses, without affecting those who are not on opiates, and is safe on children.

"It only takes the opiates off of the opiate receptors," Brezovar told a group of Boulder officers at a brief training session Thursday. "So when in doubt, use it."

Ann Noonan, program director for substance abuse and mental health integration at Mental Health Partners, said as long as the person is given the dose within a reasonable amount of time, the effects of the opiates can typically be reversed.

"If they get there in that window of time, it's a pretty effective result," she said.

Narcan is relatively easy to administer, Noonan said, and training the officers takes only about 30 minutes.

"It's not the scene in 'Pulp Fiction,'" she said. "It's a simple injection into a big muscle or a nasal atomizer."

'Seconds may matter'

Boulder police will be using the nasal atomizers because they are more affordable -- each kit costs about $55 -- and easier to use. Mental Health Partners in Boulder organized the program and is paying for the cost of the Narcan with money it received from the state for medication-assisted therapies.

Although paramedics already carry Narcan, officers are often the first on the scene of overdoses, so equipping them could help save more lives.

"When we asked the first group of officers if they've ever dealt with an overdose, almost every hand in the room went up," Noonan said. "Many of the officers have seen the reversal happen, so they are sold on the idea because they've watched it. But they don't want to have to wait for the ambulance to arrive."

Participation in the program is voluntary, and Johnson said officials will try to spread out the kits to different areas and shifts. A few of the officers have already gone through the training program and are equipped with the kits, which are about 6 inches long and 1 inch wide, he said.

"It's something an officer can keep with him in his patrol car, and if he is going to a call that sounds like it might be an opiate overdose, they can throw it in their pocket," Johnson said. "Kits are already out on the street now."

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says about nine in 10 overdose deaths involve opiates and that the number of overdoses has more than doubled since 2000.

Boulder County specifically has recently seen an increase in heroin use and heroin deaths, including a rash of four deaths in two months earlier this year.

"This had already been in the works, but those deaths reinforced our reasons for wanting to get Narcan in the hands of officers," Johnson said. "If we get there first, those seconds may matter when trying to reverse the effects of an opiate overdose."

First in state

Some other police departments are more hesitant to equip officers with Narcan. While Longmont firefighters and paramedics carry the drug, Longmont police Cmdr. Jeff Satur said right now there are no plans for city police officers to do the same.

"We've considered it, but our fire department is so close and available that we haven't had a need or thought it was necessary at this point," Satur said. "The fire department and paramedics are far better equipped to administer the drug, and they're going to need to be there anyway. Based on their response times, we just haven't found it necessary for our officers to have it. We've had multiple saves with the fire department using it, and they're getting there in a timely matter."

Noonan said she believes Boulder's is the first police department in the state to have its officers carry Narcan, but she hopes other agencies will soon follow.

"We're going to see lives saved because of this program," she said. "The fact that Boulder County has had such an uptick in young people in the prime of their lives dying from opiate overdoses is why we feel really thrilled we are able to offer this service."

Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars

Copyright 2015 - Daily Camera, Boulder, Colo.