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All YPD officers issued Narcan
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A change in the police department’s policy as to who carries the opioid-reversal drug Narcan benefited two people from Columbiana over the weekend.
Previously, only supervisors were issued Narcan, also known as naloxone.
Because of the high number of overdose calls, however, the policy changed recently and now all cruisers are equipped with Narcan.
“Because of the volume of overdoses we’ve been experiencing and on some occasions EMS has been tied up, we have placed Narcan with the patrol officers,” Police Chief Robin Lees said.
Patrol officers often are first on the scene and sometimes before an ambulance, Lees explained.
Patrol officers early Saturday and Sunday afternoon used Narcan to revive two people in separate incidents.
About 2:20 p.m. Sunday, officer Elmer Martinez- Gonzalez gave a dose to Cheryl Rose, 47, of Columbiana, who was found passed out in a running car at Fifth Avenue and Commerce Street in a vacant lot across the street from the Mahoning County jail.
Reports said Rose told police she has been using heroin for six months and had snorted the drug just before passing out.
About 1:41 a.m. Saturday, Steven Walker, 37, also of Columbiana, was found passed out in a car that had crashed into a sign in the 100 block of East Auburndale Avenue on the South Side. Officer Joe Wess had to give Walker three doses of Narcan before he woke up.
Reports said Walker told police he went to a South Side home to buy what he thought was cocaine but instead got heroin, which he snorted.
Both Rose and Walker were charged with operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol and drugs. They both also were taken to hospitals to be examined.
Lees said the Narcan being used by the officers is provided by the Mahoning County Health Department under Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided With Naloxone).
Whenever an officer uses Narcan, they will write a report and forward it to the health department so police can get a replacement dose, Lees said.
Members of the patrol division began receiving training in April 2015 on how to use the antidote. It is already carried by members of the vice squad because they regularly come into contact with drugs that can make them ill just by simple touch.