Parma, Parma Heights Police Departments Train To Administer Overdose-Reversing Drug

Joe Stefanko, an instructor with UH Parma Medical Center's EMS Training & Disaster Preparedness Institute, shows Parma Police Chief Robert Miller, right, how to administer an overdose-reversing drug to a suspected overdose victim. 

The latest lifesaving weapon in the arsenal of area police departments is deployed with a small atomizer, courtesy of University Hospitals Parma Medical Center. UH Parma Medical Center’s EMS Training & Disaster Preparedness Institute is training police officers from Parma and Parma Heights to administer Nasal Narcan, a powerful pharmaceutical drug that reverses the effects of heroin and other opioids in minutes. Each officer and sergeant who patrols in these cities will be armed with Narcan, following passage of Ohio House Bill 170 last year that permits police officers and lay people to administer the opioid-reversing drug naloxone (commonly known as Narcan).

“Police, by nature, are spread out over the city and we can oftentimes get to the victim first,” said Parma Police Chief Robert Miller. “We are always called for overdoses, yet we have never had the ability to save a life like this, so I expect it to be very beneficial for our communities.”

Heroin and prescription opioids like Vicodin and oxycodone pose the gravest drug threat, both in Ohio and across the country, according to Joseph M. Pinjuh of the Heroin Action Committee, comprised of federal and local law enforcement officials and health care professionals throughout the U.S. Department of Justice, Northern District of Ohio. In both 2013 and 2014, more people died from heroin overdoses in Cuyahoga County than in Los Angeles County, the most populous county in the nation at 9.8 million people. Over the past eight years, 55 heroin deaths occurred in Parma and 14 took place in Parma Hts. Without efforts to allow administration of Narcan more widely, it is expected that these already high overdose numbers throughout the county could be 50 percent higher, Mr. Pinjuh said.

“The Heroin Action Committee is committed to making Narcan more available to police throughout the state to help stem the tide of the heroin overdose crisis facing our community,” said Mr. Pinjuh, an Assistant U.S. Attorney who focuses on narcotics cases.

“I can’t stress how important it is for the police, as first responders, to have access to Narcan. Oftentimes, the police are on the scene of an overdose well before EMS and sometimes to the exclusion of EMS. Without Narcan, the police would simply be helpless bystanders to the overdose death. Well-trained police officers, EMS professionals and even family members armed with this powerful overdose-reversing drug will save lives.”

Chief Dan Teel of Parma Heights noted that HB 170 moved quickly through the state legislature once it became apparent how easy it would be for non-medical personnel to administer Narcan. Chief Miller was similarly impressed with the responsiveness of UH Parma President Nancy M. Tinsley and EMS Education in making the training and supplies available. UH Parma Medical Center supplies Narcan to the police departments and replenishes their supply after the drug is used.

“How do you not take a low-cost, easy-to-use solution to increase life-saving opportunities?” said EMS instructor Joe Stefanko, adding that Narcan has no negative effects on other medications or health conditions and could potentially save children and senior citizens who may accidentally overdose.

To reach UH Parma Medical Center’s EMS Training & Disaster Preparedness Institute, call 440-743-4970.

CJ Sheppard

Senior Communications Strategist, University Hospitals Parma Medical Center

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Volume 7, Issue 6, Posted 8:19 AM, 06.01.2015