Some Long Beach police officers could soon carry a life-saving anti-overdose drug as part of a pilot program in the city.

The department wants to equip certain officers with the opioid-blocking drug Naloxone as part of a test run, Long Beach Police Deputy Chief Mike Beckman said this week at a meeting of the City Council’s public safety committee.

“We believe that we can pilot it and get it during the pilot to a select group of officers, for example our quality of life officers, our mental evaluation team officers, other select officers in the field who are likely to encounter something that’s either known to be or suspected to have incurred an opioid overdose and then will be quickly able to, hopefully, remedy that situation with the administration of this drug,” Beckman said.

Councilwoman Suzie Price, who chairs the public safety committee, said she was “incredibly pleased” with Beckman’s suggestion. The three-member committee later voted unanimously to support the pilot program.

Long Beach Fire Department personnel have carried Naloxone, also known as Narcan, for decades, Deputy Fire Chief Jim Rexwinkel told the committee Wednesday.

“In my career as a paramedic, I can say I’ve given Narcan several times and watched it save several lives,” Rexwinkel said.

But the drug has gained new recognition and more first-responders have been equipped with it as the U.S. has battled an epidemic of opioid drugs such as heroin, Beckman said.

In June, the Los Angles County Sheriff’s Department announced it would begin distributing the nasal spray to deputies.

Rexwinkel said the Long Beach Fire Department received 649 calls reporting overdoses last year. However, he said, the actual number of overdoses could be higher because it’s unclear how many emergencies originally reported a fainting or trouble breathing turned out to be overdoses.

Rexwinkel wasn’t able to say exactly how many times fire personal used Naloxone in Long Beach last year.

Typically, the drug is administered through a nasal spray, which will counteract the effects of an opioid and normally bring the person back to consciousness, according to Rexwinkel.

The spray is easy to administer and normally doesn’t have any ill side effects even if the person it’s given to wasn’t suffering from an overdose, according to Rexwinkel and Beckman.

Beckman didn’t discuss any timeline for the pilot program, but he said police would work with the city’s health and fire departments to work out specifics.