Pubdate: Tue, 08 Jul 2014
Source: San Diego Union Tribune (CA)
Copyright: 2014 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
Contact:  http://www.utsandiego.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/386
Note: Seldom prints LTEs from outside it's circulation area.
Author: Lyndsay Winkley

DEPUTIES ARMED WITH 'OD ANTIDOTE'

East County Law Enforcement First in State to Carry Drug That Can 
Halt Opiate Overdose

A drug hailed as the antidote for an opiate overdose will now be on 
the belts of sheriff's deputies, the first law enforcement officers 
in the state to carry it.

Deputies who patrol Santee, Lakeside and the unincorporated areas 
surrounding El Cajon started carrying the drug Naloxone this week, 
sheriff's officials announced Monday at a news conference at the 
department's headquarters. The nasal spray, which also goes by the 
brand name of Narcan, reverses drug overdoses caused by opiates.

Opiates, often used to treat pain, include street drugs such as 
heroin and opium as well as prescription drugs such as oxycodone and 
codeine. When abused, opiates can slow a person's breathing to the 
point of death, if someone doesn't intervene.

In January, a law regulating the administration of Naloxone was 
changed to allow not only paramedics to dispense it, but peace 
officers. Deputies patrolling the East County region, the 
department's largest jurisdiction, will carry doses of the drug and 
administer them when necessary over six months in a test to determine 
whether the drug should be carried by sheriff's deputies throughout the county.

Officials said deputies are the first to arrive after a report of an 
overdose more than 50 percent of the time.

Sheriff's Capt. L. James Bovet, who leads the Santee station, said 
the department had noticed a rise in opiate-related deaths for a 
number of years. According to the county Medical Examiner's Office, 
narcotic and opiate-related deaths have risen nearly every year since 2005.

In 2006, there were 219 deaths from narcotics and opiates. Six years 
later, in 2012, 345 deaths occurred, a 37 percent increase. Heroin 
and morphine overdoses have also steadily increased since 2010, 
according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Even if an overdosing drug user is reached in time, without a drug 
like Naloxone, there are few options.

"Unfortunately, with a drug overdose, there's not a whole lot you can 
do," Bovet said. "You usually go right in to either rescue breathing or CPR."

That's why Naloxone is a game-changer, said Shawn D. Evans, chief of 
staff for Scripps Health, which donated $4,500 to pay for the total 
cost of the pilot program.

"Now, as the first responders, (deputies) can now administer 
something," he said. "They're no longer spectators. They can be 
lifesavers in those moments that are most critical for the recovery 
of young adults. It's absolutely essential."

The Sheriff's Department also partnered with the McAlister Institute, 
a drug prevention nonprofit. Along with the drug, deputies will also 
be equipped with a brochure bearing a 24-hour hotline for the institute.

"The idea is that maybe this one time, this user has an 'aha' 
moment," Bovet said. "Well, with a number to call for help, maybe we 
can stop that cycle."

Naloxone has existed since the 1970s. It combats overdoses by binding 
to the same part of a cell as opiate drugs do. When someone takes an 
opiate, the drug binds to brain receptors, which then affect other 
functions of the body - most dangerously, breathing. If enough 
opioids are hooked up to enough receptors, breathing can stop and a 
person can die. 0Comments

"You can think of a receptor as a little dish in the brain," said Dr. 
Bruce Haynes, the county's emergency medical services director. "The 
narcotic fills that dish, until Naloxone comes along and kicks it out."

It's virtually impossible to take too much Naloxone, Haynes said, and 
it has few, if any, side effects. Although the drug may need to be 
administered more than once, it essentially halts an overdose in its 
tracks and can be used up until the heart stops. Naloxone isn't a 
replacement for medical attention, however, and a patient should be 
monitored by a professional after receiving it.

"As an emergency physician, these folks are going to live," he said. 
"These folks aren't going to come in on CPR. They aren't going to 
come in dead. That's a big deal."

A detective lieutenant in Quincy, Mass., knows something about the 
lifesaving powers of the drug. After a rash of fatal overdoses, the 
city became the first to train officers to use the drug in 2010.

"The death rate was astronomical," said Quincy police Detective Lt. 
Patrick Glynn, commander of the special investigations and narcotics unit.

Since then, Narcan (the drug's brand name) has been administered to 
overdosing drug users 289 times, resulting in 277 reversed drug 
overdoses. Of the unsuccessful attempts, eight people were already 
dead and four were not overdosing on an opiate. In the first 18 
months after introducing Narcan, the overdose death rate dropped 66 
percent when compared with the 18 months before the drug.

"Some people might say it's a Band-Aid approach, but if you're trying 
to heal a wound, you need a Band-Aid to start the healing process," 
Glynn said. "If you want to get someone to treatment, they need to be alive."

The detective said the drug hasn't just saved lives - it also 
resulted in a culture shift in the community. He said officers in 
patrol cars have been flagged down by people who drove in from other 
towns where police don't carry the drug to get help for a friend who 
had overdosed.

"They really know we're there to help them," Glynn said. "... Each 
one of these people belongs to someone. They didn't wake up this 
morning and say I want to be a substance abuser."

Unintentional deaths in San Diego County due to narcotics/opiates

2005: 210

2006: 219

2007: 279

2008:315

2009: 330

2010: 314

2011: 363

2012: 345

Source: San Diego County Medical Examiner
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom