Narcan saves two residents from overdoses

EDISON — Twice in one day, township police officers saved the lives of two individuals in the throes of apparent drug overdoses using Narcan, according to Police Chief Thomas Bryan.

“Helping to save the lives of these two people is what good police work is all about,” Bryan said. “These incidents also underscore the value and importance of continued training and education for our police officers.”

In both incidents, on March 23, officers were able to revive the individuals by using the opioid-reversal drug, police said.

Just before 4:30 a.m., officers Daniel Bradley and Neel Patel used a dose of Narcan — also known as nasal naloxone — to revive a 21-year-old woman whose mother found her unconscious in the living room of their Raymond Street home, police said.

Within minutes, the woman’s shallow breathing improved, and she regained consciousness before emergency medical technicians (EMTs) transported her to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick for treatment, police said. The woman later told officers that she had snorted packets of heroin and smoked marijuana earlier, police said.

At 2:40 p.m. the same day, Officer Jason Chang was dispatched to a medical emergency along Woodbridge Avenue near Route 1, where a 36-year-old Edison man had lost consciousness in his mother’s car as the result of an apparent heroin overdose, police said.

Before EMTs transported the man to Robert Wood Johnson, Chang recovered a used hypodermic needle from the man’s possession and administered a Narcan dose, which helped the man to regain consciousness quickly, police said.

According to police, the incidents are the latest in a growing number throughout the county in which police officers have used Narcan to revive overdose victims, including several in Woodbridge and others in New Brunswick, North Brunswick and Piscataway.

Narcan has been widely used by paramedics and emergency room doctors for years, according to police. It was approved statewide last year for use by other first responders, including police officers, who are often first on the scene at drug overdoses.

Each of Edison’s 120 patrol officers and supervisors has been trained in the use of Narcan since Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey implemented a program in December, responding to concerns about increased heroin use. Each of the town’s patrol cars is being equipped with Narcan dosing kits, Bryan said.

“Public safety isn’t just about enforcing laws; it is also about protecting people’s lives,” Mayor Thomas Lankey said. “I am proud that our police officers helped save these two victims. I am even prouder that all of our patrol officers are now better trained to keep our community safe.”