SURREY — The Mountie who championed the effort to have all RCMP officers equipped with the opioid overdose reversal drug naloxone used it to save someone’s life outside police headquarters Friday.
It happened just after 8:30 a.m. outside the main detachment (14355 57th Ave.).
An officer arriving for his shift was alerted by a driver that his passenger had overdosed after taking heroin.
Police say the man’s breathing was shallow. Nasal naloxone spray was administered twice before the man showed improvement, according to a release.
The detachment cell nurse took care of the man until emergency services arrived and took him to hospital.
See also: Drug overdose deaths this year now more than all of 2015
This is the second time naloxone has been used by Surrey RCMP officers in the last two weeks, police say.
“This incident serves as another example of how important it is that all first-responders are properly equipped with life-saving equipment during the current opioid crisis,” says Surrey RCMP Sergeant Alanna Dunlop. “It is only fitting that the officer who administered the Naloxone is the detachment’s drug subject matter expert and championed the effort to have all RCMP officers equipped with Naloxone.”
Surrey RCMP says officers are out every day in the community equipped with naloxone to potentially help save the lives of those suffering in similar situations.
Click here for more information on overdose prevention and response please visit Fraser Health’s website.
-The Now