Narcan kits, cash go to LR police

Officers await policies, training in anti-opioid medication

Little Rock police have received thousands of dollars in donations to purchase Narcan, an anti-opioid medication used to counteract the effects of an opioid overdose, according to an agency spokesman.

Officer Steve Moore, a Little Rock police spokesman, said people have donated about $4,150 for the purchase of Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, which is rapidly being adopted by law enforcement agencies across the nation in the face of the opioid crisis.

"It seems like we have an overdose call every day," he said, mentioning that the nation's opioid epidemic is behind the department's efforts to get Narcan.

Assistant Police Chief Alice Fulk said the department has already received a few Narcan kits from the National Sheriffs' Association.

The department, she said, expects to purchase about 55 Narcan kits with private donations and to receive about 100 Narcan kits from the National Sheriffs' Association.

Fulk said the department appreciates the private donors and the sheriffs' association stepping in to help Little Rock police.

Little Rock police have not yet purchased any Narcan, Moore said. He said the donated kits would not be enough to equip the full police force, which had 513 sworn officers as of Aug. 23. There is no set date for when officers will be equipped with the anti-opioid medication, and the department's policy on administering Narcan is still in the approval process, he said.

In an Aug. 14 memo to City Manager Bruce Moore, Police Chief Kenton Buckner wrote that the training for Narcan will cover department policy and how to administer the medication.

Officials in patrol divisions and the K-9 unit "should be the first to receive this training because they will likely be the ones to initially come into contact with an individual that has overdosed," Buckner said in the memo.

The number of overdose deaths in the state increased from 153 in 2011 to 227 in 2015, a 48 percent increase. The department tallied 958 fatalities in that five-year period. The state Health Department has recorded a rising number of overdose fatalities in recent years, with many attributed to the abuse of opioids such as methadone, hydrocodone and Oxycontin.

Several law enforcement agencies in central Arkansas have equipped their officers with naloxone in recent years.

Benton police, the first law enforcement agency in the state to carry naloxone, announced in late 2015 that officers had received the drug. The North Little Rock Police Department and Maumelle Police Department have also received Narcan.

Since issuing Narcan to deputies in April, the Pulaski County sheriff's office has reported several lifesaving interventions.

Specifically, the agency reported in May that two people were revived using Narcan. The agency statement said one person was found unresponsive in a patrol vehicle, and another person had attempted suicide by consuming fentanyl, a powerful synthetic painkiller.

And last month, Arkansas State Police announced that the agency would train and equip troopers with Narcan.

Information for this article was provided by Brandon Mulder for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Metro on 09/07/2017

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