Police Officers to Carry Heroin Overdose Antidote

Police Officers to Carry Heroin Overdose Antidote
New York City Police Commissioner William Bratton (L) and New York state Attorney Gen. Eric Schneiderman, leave a news conference in New York on Tuesday, May 27, 2014. (Richard Drew/AP)
Ivan Pentchoukov
5/27/2014
Updated:
7/18/2015

Police officers across New York City will begin to carry heroin overdose kits as part of an expanded program funded by the attorney general’s office.

The police department will receive funding to equip up to 19,500 officers with naloxone kits. Naloxone is an effective overdose antidote which can rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

The attorney general will use assets seized from drug dealers and other criminals to fund the kits.

“By providing NYPD police officers with naloxone, we are making this stunningly effective overdose antidote available in every corner of the five boroughs,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. “This program will literally save lives.”

Similar programs have succeeded elsewhere. In Quincy, Mass., police officers used naloxone kits 221 to prevent 211 overdoses, a 95 percent effectiveness rate. In New York’s Suffolk county, police officers used naloxone kits to prevent 563 overdoses last year alone.

A naloxone kit is a zip pouch containing two syringes pre-filled with naloxone, two atomizers for nasal inhalation, gloves, and an instruction booklet. A single kit costs approximately $60.

Police officers engaged in patrol work in all of the precincts, including the housing and transit bureaus, will eventually receive the kits. The attorney general set aside $1.2 million for naloxone kits for officers citywide.

Police officers in Staten Island used naloxone kits as part of a pilot program. Statewide, the attorney general approved funding for 25,000 kits for 150 police departments.

Ivan is the national editor of The Epoch Times. He has reported for The Epoch Times on a variety of topics since 2011.
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