INDY COPS TO CARRY NARCAN- OD FIRST AID DRUG

http://wane.com/2015/01/23/indianapolis-police-expanding-use-of-anti-overdose-drug/

Indianapolis police expanding use of anti-overdose drug

By Associated PressPublished: January 23, 2015, 9:18 am

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A kit with naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, is displayed at the South Jersey AIDS Alliance in Atlantic City, N.J. on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2014. An overdose of opiates essentially makes the body forget to breathe. Naloxone works by blocking the brain receptors that opiates latch onto and helping the body "remember" to take in air. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has announced an expansion of its efforts to equip officers with a drug that can reverse heroin overdoses.

Dozens more officers were trained and began carrying the anti-overdose drug Narcan this week. The program launched nine months ago in the Southwest District of Indianapolis and is now expanding into the East District.

The department eventually hopes to expand the program to all of its officers. A department spokesman says officers in the Southeast District should be trained by the end of March.

Officers participating in the pilot program administered Narcan 46 times between April and December. Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services used the drug more than 1,000 times last year.

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