Seattle PD expands Naloxone program amid opioid crisis
Apr 5, 2018, 11:09 AM
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
It’s a move that the Seattle Police Department hopes will help save people struggling with opioid addiction.
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On Thursday, SPD announced the expansion of their Naloxone program. Naloxone is designed to rapidly reverse an overdose.
Interim Police Chief Carmen Best says during the last two years of the program, officers have saved approximately two dozen people.
Amid the opioid epidemic, Chief Best says it is the department’s responsibility to step up.
“There is still so much to do,” she said.
The department will receive 100 Naloxone donations. Chief Best says eventually they want a kit for every patrol car.
RELATED: King County set new record for overdose deaths
Prior to SPD’s announcement, Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams called on more Americans to carry Naloxone. He said he wants more federal funding to increase access to the medication. It can cost around $80 for one dose.
“You don’t have to be a policeman or a firefighter or a paramedic to save a life,” Adams said.
More than 42,000 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2016. That is double the number who died in 2010.
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