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US Police Get Training to Save Lives of Heroin Overdose Victims

by Anubha Sinha on Feb 24 2014 11:35 PM

 US Police Get Training to Save Lives of Heroin Overdose Victims
Police officers in the United States are being trained to use drug called Narcan to save lives of heroin overdose victims.
Police officers are sometimes the first ones to reach the spot and using this nasal medicine through an atomiser can help in the survival of the victims.

Roselle Police Det. Rob Gates said, “This is a good programme.” Officers from various DuPage County police departments received training on Friday. The initial cost of the programme is $40,000. DuPage County witnessed has experienced 87 heroin overdose deaths in the past two years.

“Heroin is an epidemic that shows no social or economic boundaries,” Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala said.

A person stops breathing due to heroin overdose as it blocks signals from the brain to the lungs and Narcan restores that signal. But as this is a temporary relief, immediate medical treatment is needed after this.

And the victim needs to be taken to hospital as quickly as possible because the officers cannot find out at the spot as to how much heroin the person has taken or level of alcohol present in the system.

Narcan, trade name for the drug Naloxone, costs $20 a dose. But many quarters say that this life-saving step could make the victims keep going for the overdose again and again.

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Source-Medindia


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