Police to expand naloxone trial run

More Columbus police officers will be issued naloxone after nearly five dozen heroin users were saved from overdosing during a six-month pilot program.

“By every measure, the pilot program was a success. During the pilot, officers administered this life-saving drug 58 times,” police Cmdr. Mark Gardner, who oversaw the pilot project, said in a report. “All but one of those victims survived and were given another opportunity to pursue sobriety and to break the chains of addiction.”

However, the report acknowledged that some officers are not in favor of carrying naloxone, which is sold under the brand name Narcan.

“This is pretty complex,” said Jason Pappas, president of Capital City Lodge No. 9, which represents Columbus police and members of 20 suburban departments. “We as law enforcement have a priority to protect people and save lives. At the same time, we don’t want to become medical providers.”

During the pilot program, 124 officers stationed mainly on the Hilltop and South Side were given naloxone. About one-quarter of the officers dispensed the drug, which counteracts overdoses.

One officer in the 19th precinct on the Hilltop, administered doses to 11 people when he was on patrol.

“They really adopted the program with a lot of enthusiasm,” said Dr. David Keseg, medical director for Columbus Division of Fire, who provided medical advice for the pilot program. “They saw that they were really saving lives.”

The sooner overdose patients receive naloxone, the better their odds are for survival. In all of the cases, paramedics followed up with patients, he said.

In at least one-third of the cases, overdose victims had to receive multiple doses. In at least two cases, doses were given by others before police arrived, according to the report.

Most of the people treated in the pilot program were women. Most were white and the average age was 35.

Officers working second shift dispensed the most doses, according to the report, and officers never went to the same address twice to distribute the drugs.

The pilot program was expanded to include investigative and support personnel in the crime lab who might come into contact with fentanyl or carfentanil. If a coworker comes into contact with either of the drugs, naloxone can be administered.

The number of police officers carrying naloxone across the country is increasing.

From May to December 2016, the number of police agencies supplying officers with the drug increased by 25 percent to 1,214, according to the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition. The coalition tracks law-enforcement agencies using the drug.

In Ohio, as many as 65 law-enforcement agencies have supplies of naloxone.

For example, Dublin police officers started carrying the drug in 2016 and used it at least once, according to a city spokeswoman.

Other law-enforcement agencies that supply the drug in central Ohio include Chillicothe and Grandview Heights.

In Columbus, “Although we do not anticipate providing naloxone kits to all of patrol, we do intend to widen the program over the next six months in order to give more officers the opportunity to save lives with this equipment and training,” Gardner said in the report.

It costs $95 to train and equip a Columbus police officer to carry the drug, which has a shelf life of 18 months.

The report includes a number of estimates, including one for training and equipping 1,850 officers at a cost of $177,000, according to the report.

Pappas said that while the program was successful in saving lives, there’s a need to hire more officers as their duties increase.

Gardner recommends that the program be voluntary for officers. He also said it should be overseen by the division’s crisis-intervention team.

“As seen during the pilot project, officers who had a passion for the program showed activity, while those who were less than enthusiastic did not,” he said in the report.