Haltom City police to carry drug that saves overdose victims

April 26--HALTOM CITY -- Last year, police officer Joe Mello was one of the first to arrive at the scene after a call reporting two people unconscious in a garage, suffering from heroin overdoses.

The man survived, but the young woman died.

If he had been equipped with nasal Naloxone, or Narcan, the woman might have survived, he said.

Haltom City police soon will become one of few departments in Texas to equip officers with Narcan. They began training on its use this week, and some officers will carry the spray in the next few days.

In 2014, Tarrant County recorded 122 opioid-related deaths, dropping slightly to 118 in 2015, according to Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office statistics.

The Centers for Disease Control estimated that about 1 in 20,000 people in Tarrant County will die as a result of opioid overdose. Opioids are central nervous system depressants and include drugs such as heroin, hydrocodone and fentanyl, a synthetic heroin.

"Officers are being trained and furnished with Narcan in an effort to save and protect individuals' lives by counteracting the life-threatening effects of opioid overdose," Haltom City Police Chief Cody Phillips said.

In the last several years, an increase in opiate overdoses prompted many police departments across the country, especially in the Northeast, to provide officers with the drug instead of waiting for paramedics.

Members of the University Of Texas Police Department in Austin already carry Narcan.

In Arlington, where officers don't carry the drug, "we are not seeing the frequency of cases that are being reported in the northeastern side of the United States," Arlington police Lt. Christopher Cook said in an email.

Fort Worth police are reviewing the option.

"If approved, the next phase will be to establish a training curriculum for qualified officers," Fort Worth officer Daniel Segura said in an email. "And after all the training is completed, then we will be issuing Naloxone (Narcan) to selected officers."

'Be prepared for a fight'

Haltom City firefighter/paramedic Sterling Gilliland spent an hour Tuesday morning with several police officers, training them in the use of nasal Naloxone.

"This will help an overdose victim breathe again," Gilliland told the officers.

Under the new Haltom City policy and after training, officers will be able to administer the nasal spray to those who appear to have overdosed on opioids and who are in respiratory distress.

"Be prepared for a violent reaction," Gilliland said in the training. "Expect the unexpected. Be prepared for a fight because you have taken them away from their high and they are not going to be happy about it."

Gilliland told officers they should expect to see a reaction in two to eight minutes.

Haltom City police officials said the new program has had challenges to consider, including who controls the medicine, who can administer it, what training needs to be conducted and any legal aspects.

"With the help of Haltom City Fire Department, MedStar and officers from the Haltom City Police Department, we were able to research and answer all of the questions," Phillips said. "After reviewing policies from other states and developing our own training and reporting guidelines, we determined implementing this program greatly benefited the community we serve."

Hurst police officials have discussed the idea with the Hurst Fire Department.

"They said since their response time is so close to ours, they thought it would be better for them to handle this instead of us," Hurst assistant Police Chief Steven Niekamp said in an email. "This definitely falls more in their area of expertise, and we didn't feel it would be a greater safety issue since they are usually arriving on scene at almost the same time as us if not earlier."

Other Tarrant County suburban police departments also depend on firefighters and paramedics to administer Narcan.

"Our Fire Department carries this, and due to their response times being within the window needed to administer the drug, we have chosen not to equip our patrol officers with it," North Richland Hills police spokeswoman Carissa Katekaru said in an email. "However, our drug unit, who often works outside of the city limits, will be equipped with this as we cannot guarantee the same response time while they are outside of our city."

Haltom City police noted that Narcan does not reverse overdoses caused by nonopioid drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine or alcohol.

Domingo Ramirez Jr.: 817-390-7763, @mingoramirezjr

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