Police, Campus Health carry Naxolone, a drug that can reverse an overdose

At 4:31 a.m. on Sept. 23, Carrboro Police received a 911 call reporting a drug overdose on the 500 block of Jones Ferry Road.

Officer Lori McLamb was first to report to the scene, where she found a 20-year-old woman unconscious with labored breathing.

Because the woman used a combination of drugs, her friends were unsure which she overdosed on. McLamb, deciding the woman overdosed on opioids, administered two milligrams of Naloxone. EMS later administered another two milligrams, saving the victim’s life.

Naloxone reverses the effects of an opioid overdose by temporarily binding to the same brain receptors as the opioids. It has now been administered by police six times in Orange County — three times by the Orange County Sherriff’s Department and three times by the Carrboro Police Department.

Capt. Chris Atack, spokesperson for the Carrboro police, said annual Naloxone training for police officers is vital to saving lives.

“Opioids have surpassed other drugs, alcohol, guns and car crashes among other things in causes of death,” Atack said. “Law enforcement’s role is public safety and life-saving, and I think this is a niche tool for law enforcement to create better outcomes for those involved in overdose.”

The Carrboro Police Department began training officers to use Naloxone nasal spray during opioid overdoses in October 2014. In January 2015, it became the first police department to use Naloxone in North Carolina.

“When you’re in an opioid overdose, seconds can count – you’re depriving your brain and body of oxygen, which is certainly a medical emergency,” Atack said. “If law enforcement arrives first, we want to be sure we can do everything possible to reverse the effects of this overdose quickly.”

From 2009-2013, 161 drug overdoses occurred in Orange County. UNC Campus Health Services now stocks Naloxone, too.

Stacy Shelp, spokesperson for the Orange County Health Department, said UNC’s pharmacy will begin to train the public to administer Naloxone on Oct. 12.

Campus Health Services has also taken the initiative to spread awareness.

Amy Sauls, the director of pharmacy for Campus Health Services, said the office began providing free Naloxone kits for students without a prescription one month ago.

“It’s been a drug that we’ve kept here at Campus Health for a long time to reverse any kind of opioid overdose,” she said. “It’s been a drug that’s been around a long time and has been used in hospitals and clinics, but it’s just now in the last several years coming into the spectrum of public use.”

Naloxone is often administered as an injection, but after students said they would prefer a nasal spray, Campus Health went with that option.

Sauls said students can ask for a Naloxone kit at any time without questioning.

“The main purpose is just to save a life,” she said.

Under North Carolina’s Good Samaritan Law, people who witness an overdose can call 911 without risking prosecution against the witness or victim, although the law doesn’t provide immunity for every drug offense.

Dean Blackburn, director of Student Wellness, said opiate abuse goes through increases and decreases every four to six years.

He said Naloxone has an enormous number of advantages with no conceivable drawbacks.

“There’s really no potential for abuse, misuse or misadministration of any kind,” he said. “So the risks are near zero and the benefits are tremendous.”

city@dailytarheel.com