NEW YORK TIMES: Police officers across New York City will soon carry medications to reverse the effects of an overdose from heroin or opioid prescription pills, officials are set to announce Tuesday, expanding from a successful program on Staten Island to all precincts citywide.
The $1.2 million effort, paid for with funds from the New York State attorney general’s office, would give 19,500 kits with the anti-overdose medication naloxone to patrol officers and to other city officers most likely to come into street-level contact with overdose victims.
Those encounters are increasingly frequent in the city as well as around the country amid skyrocketing heroin use and opioid pill abuse. In Suffolk County, officers have saved more than 184 lives since a pilot program began there in 2012. On Friday, officers on Staten Island twice revived residents in the throes of an overdose by administering the drug… (more)
EDITOR: Every police force in Lancaster County should be doing the same. There is no excuse not to.
EDITOR: the following is in responsefrom Rick Kastner to an inquiry from NewsLanc :
This medication is being discussed by the state Dept. of Drug and Alcohol Programs, also known as DDAP, and at my statewide directors association called PACDAA. DDAP is reviewing the recent increase in heroin overdoses and deaths in Pa, and this medication is part of the study.
My office has no direct connection or authority with the various hospitals, Emergency Management Agencies, police stations, etc. in Lancaster, so I do not know how widespread this medication is being used. There is a push in some parts of the state to get this medication into the hands of the general public, so that if a friend or relative overdoses, the medication could be sprayed into the person’s nose, and the person could be revived.
I recently mailed a one page D&A Guide to the Lancaster emergency rooms and urgent care centers, describing how they can get patients into D&A treatment. My office created this guide specifically for these local medical professionals, as a result of the recent heroin increase.
Due to such a small budget from the state and feds, my office had to stop placements into D&A rehab and halfway house. The Commissioners gave my office an additional $300,000 of block grant funding, in order to open it back up. This additional funding also allowed my office to keep detox open.
For heroin addiction, we also have the local methadone center, and our county is very active with suboxone, also known as buprenorphine.
Commissioners Lehman and I are attending a DDAP sponsored training on the Pa heroin epidemic, on June 6 th. We will network with other counties, to see if we could add any programs to our existing services. Of course, funding is always a factor, on what we can create and sustain. The local harm reduction committee is also spending some time on this issue, but we do not meet very often.
Heroin addicts are about 30% of the clients we serve in my office, and the numbers are going up. These addicts are challenging to serve, and it usually takes long term, expensive treatment. Medication assisted treatment helps, but by itself, is not usually the answer.