As the opioid epidemic grows in Cuyahoga County, all Cleveland police cars are now equipped with spray version of the medication needed to counteract an overdose. Until recently, only Cleveland paramedics and fire fighters carried the drug.
The kit in every police zone car includes gloves and two doses of naloxone – the nasal spray that can reverse a drug overdose. Each dose contains 4 milligrams – twice as much as the dosage that the city’s emergency medical technicians carry. Cleveland Assistant Director of Public Safety Edward Eckart says people are overdosing on much stronger drugs and the higher naloxone dosage means police won’t have to go through multiple kits.
"But what’s nice about Narcan is that there is no side effects, so if it’s used and the person wasn’t overdosed on an opioid, no harm no foul," Eckhart says.
Eckhart says police officers went through training to identify the signs and symptoms of an overdose as well as the proper way to administer the naloxone. He adds that it can also be used on police dogs who accidentally overdose when sniffing out drugs.