At the IMPD East District Task Force meeting Feb. 11, Lieutenant Brian Churchill introduced the newest tool to help citizens — NARCAN. The drug, haloxone hydrochloride (but known as NARCAN), is administered at the scene of heroin overdoses.
Lt. Churchill explained that heroin use has become a serious problem in Indianapolis, and first responders have been called to the scene of overdoses. Police response time to the scene is usually one to three minutes, and it takes EMS several minutes more to get there. “People were dying of an overdose before they could get there,” he said. With NARCAN in their medical assistance kit (in every cruiser), officers in East District have been trained on how to administer the drug. “We’ve saved three lives already,” he said. Southwest District has had the drug for several months, and officers have saved 47 lives so far.
The preparation is one of the few antidotes to heroin in the world. When too much heroin is in the brain, Churchill explained, “the brain ‘forgets’ to tell the body to breath. People just stop breathing.” Administered in the nose, NARCAN blocks the effect of heroin, “waking up” the brain and the body remembers to breathe. Because the drug is administered through the nose, officers don’t have to worry about needle sticks. By the time EMS gets to the scene, the patient is breathing and conscious. “You can watch them come back to life.”
The drug costs $38 a dose, and the department is trying to find funding so that every officer will have it in their cruiser soon.