By Karen Zautyk
Observer Correspondent
In April 2014, Gov. Christie announced a pilot program to equip some New Jersey police departments with Narcan, an antidote administered to persons suffering from a heroin overdose.
The initiative was launched in Monmouth and Ocean counties and reportedly has since saved the lives of more than 220 individuals.
Now, the program is being expanded to Essex County.
Last week, County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray announced that all 27 police agencies in Essex are receiving Narcan kits. In total, 250 kits will be distributed.
“The goal of this program is to equip every police department in Essex County, including campus police and others, to be able to immediately render life-saving assistance to someone who is overdosing on heroin or other opiates,’’ Murray said in a press release.
“Because police officers often arrive on the scene prior to emergency medical personnel, they will now be able to intervene and provide relief until back-up help arrives,’’ Murray said.
According to Murray’s office, Narcan, a trade name for Naloxone, “is a drug with no euphoric properties and minimal side effects. If administrated to a person who is not experiencing an overdose, it cannot harm the patient. It comes in nasal form and can easily be administered by someone with little or no medical background.”
In October, representatives from the various law enforcement agencies attended a Train the Trainer seminar at the Essex County Hospital Center in Cedar Grove. Those officers will, in turn, instruct members of their departments in administration of the antidote.
How well does it work? The following is from a National Public Radio report quoting a Revere, Mass., deputy fire chief: “It’s just incredible, it’s like magic.
“There’s somebody who’s on the ground who’s literally dead. They have no pulse.
“Sometimes they’re blue, sometimes they’re black. And you administer this stuff and sometimes, in a minute or two or three, they’re actually up and talking to you.”
The Belleville Police Department has received five Narcan kits from the prosecutor’s office and plans to purchase five more, Detective Gary Souss told The Observer. There will be one in every patrol car, he said.
Paramedics currently are equipped with Narcan, but since the police are often the first to arrive at a medical call, they have been at a disadvantage. They could offer some first aid, but in an overdose case, they had to wait for EMS to arrive before the life-saving antidote could be used.
“Now, the first-responders will have it,” Souss said.
Souss said members of the Belleville PD patrol division will begin training in Narcan use sometime this month, after training materials are received from the county.
Narcan has not been without controversy. Critics have argued that the antidote does not address the underlying causes of addiction and might even encourage heroin use because an overdose would no longer amount to a death sentence. When Christie launched the program, however, he emphasized that it would be just one “vital, life-saving element” in New Jersey’s “broader approach to the drug problem, which also includes vigorous awareness, enforcement and anti-addiction efforts.”
Another objection, though, has been the cost.
The Prosecutor’s Office is footing the bill for the initial 250 kits distributed in Essex County. They cost a reported $50 each, for a total of $12,500.
However, the individual PDs will be responsible for replenishing the supply or, as in Belleville, buying any additional kits.
A spokesperson for Murray told The Observer, “It is my understanding refills will run about $30.” But according to Souss, the five extras that his department is buying will cost $60 each.
That appears to reflect November news reports that the price of Narcan was soon expected to double.
There has also been speculation that, as the demand for Narcan increases nationwide, and since there is only one current supplier, the cost will continue to rise.
