Orange County NC Website
<br /> <br /> <br />Police, Campus Health carry Naxolone, a drug <br />that can reverse an overdose <br />HARRIS WHELESS AND SAMANTHA SCOTT | PUBLISHED 09/30/16 12:40AM <br /> <br />At 4:31 a.m. on Sept. 23, Carrboro Police received a 911 call reporting a drug overdose <br />on the 500 block of Jones Ferry Road. <br />Officer Lori McLamb was first to report to the scene, where she found a 20 -year-old <br />woman unconscious with labored breathing. <br />Because the woman used a combination of drugs, her friends were unsure which she <br />overdosed on. McLamb, deciding the woman overdo sed on opioids, administered two <br />milligrams of Naloxone. EMS later administered another two milligrams, saving the <br />victim’s life. <br />Naloxone reverses the effects of an opioid overdose by temporarily binding to the same <br />brain receptors as the opioids. It has now been administered by police six times in <br />Orange County — three times by the Orange County Sherriff’s Department and three <br />times by the Carrboro Police Department. <br />Capt. Chris Atack, spokesperson for the Carrboro police, said annual Naloxone training <br />for police officers is vital to saving lives. <br />“Opioids have surpassed other drugs, alcohol, guns and car crashes among other <br />things in causes of death,” Atack said. “Law enforcement’s role is public safety and life - <br />saving, and I think this is a niche tool for law enforcement to create better outcomes for <br />those involved in overdose.” <br />The Carrboro Police Department began training officers to use Naloxone nasal spray <br />during opioid overdoses in October 2014. In January 2015, it became the first police <br />department to use Naloxone in North Carolina.