Crime & Safety

Seaside Heights Cops Use Narcan to Save Second OD Victim

Heroin overdose deaths down this year, officials say

Seaside Heights police officers saved the life of a drug overdose victim with the help of Narcan, a medication that temporarily reverses the effects of opiates.

The medication was recently approved for law enforcement officers to carry by Gov. Chris Christie after Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato spearheaded a program in the county.

The most recent save came just before 3 a.m. Tuesday when Seaside Heights Patrolman Erik Hershey responded to the Desert Palm Inn on North Ocean Avenue in Seaside Park, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

There, he administered the Narcan nasal spray and the female victim, described as being in her mid-twenties, immediately became responsive. Tri-Boro First Aid Squad ultimately transported the victim to Community Medical Center in Toms River where she is recovering.

"Once again a victim of heroin has been given a chance to choose a path away from addiction, and loved ones have been spared the grief of a loved one’s death," said Coronato, in a statement. "To date [in 2014] there have been 25 overdose deaths, compared to 40 over the same period last year. We’re not ready to claim success, but the downward trend is something we pray can be sustained into the future."

The first save of an overdose victim sine the program began earlier this month came on April 6, when a male overdose victim, also in his twenties, was revived when Seaside Heights Patrolman Dan Davis administered the Narcan spray.

The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office developed the program’s policy and training protocols in early January of this year, and will assist other counties across New    Jersey in starting their own Narcan programs. The first Narcan Kits were distributed throughout the county over the past month.

"I commend Ocean County’s municipal police departments for embracing the Narcan program. I’m confident this is the start of a significant number of lives that will be saved by officers armed with this valuable tool," said Coronato, who will thank the officers credited with the first two saves at the Seaside Heights police station on Wednesday.


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