Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputies are some of the county’s only first responders that carry Naloxone nasal spray, better known as Narcan, a drug that blocks the effects of opioids and can prevent death in the event of an overdose.
Sheriff’s Office deputies began carrying Naloxone after undergoing training earlier this year as part of a program with the Santa Barbara County Emergency Medical Services Agency (EMS), a division of the county’s Public Health Department. The program is already paying dividends, according to Sheriff’s Office Public Information Officer Kelly Hoover.
Hoover told the Sun that the overdose drug had been used seven times since deputies completed their training and that five of the subjects who received Naloxone during an overdose made full recoveries. The other two occasions that the drug was used by deputies involved one death and one partial recovery.
On Oct. 24, deputies successfully used the nasal spray on two men in Orcutt and again the next day on one man in Isla Vista. In both instances, deputies arrived on location prior to other emergency medical personnel. All three men made full recoveries, Hoover said.
“Due to medical privacy laws we are not able to release anything further,” she added.
Between 2011 and 2016, the Sheriff’s Office’s Coroner Unit observed a marked increase in overdose deaths, according to a press release issued by the county Public Health Department. In 2016 alone, opioids were present in approximately 65 percent of overdose deaths that occurred in the county. The release noted that many Santa Barbara County residents live in rural and semi-rural settings, sometimes at considerable distances from EMS.
Opioids—which range from prescription painkillers like oxycontin to street drugs like heroin—cause death by slowing and eventually stopping a person’s breathing. Naloxone works by temporarily blocking those effects. When administered correctly, the nasal spray restores central nervous system functions and respiration within two to five minutes, and can prevent brain injury and even death.
County health officials say Naloxone has no potential for abuse and has no known adverse effects on persons who are not experiencing an opioid overdose.
Of all county emergency personnel, Sheriff’s Office deputies are some of the only units outside of ambulances that carry the nasal spray. Santa Maria’s police and fire departments don’t carry Naloxone, and requests to Lompoc’s police department as well as Marian Regional Medical Center were not answered by the Sun’s press time.
“Providing law enforcement with the knowledge and tools to treat opioid overdoses within our communities can reduce the time between when an opioid overdose victim is discovered and when they are able to receive lifesaving assistance through the administration of Naloxone,” said Susan Klein-Rothschild, Santa Barbara County Public Health Department deputy director.
This article appears in Nov 2-8, 2017.