QUINCY – On average, it happens once every four to five days: Quincy police use Narcan to revive someone who overdoses on heroin or prescription painkillers.



“We could go a week or two without a reversal then have two or three in one day,” Quincy Detective Lt. Patrick Glynn said.



Last Sunday, the Quincy police department used the drug naloxone, known by its brand name Narcan, to successfully reverse an overdose for the 300th time since it first administered it in January 2011.



Although not everyone who overdoses dies, Glynn, who spearheaded the city’s Narcan program, estimated that the reversal drug has probably saved more than 200 lives in Quincy.



“The lives we’re saving are someone’s child, husband, wife, sister or brother,” Glynn said Wednesday.



Glynn said Quincy police officers started carrying Narcan in October 2010, but the first time they used it was in January 2011. Quincy has become the model for police and fire departments across the nation that have started using naloxone, which is an opiate blocker commonly administered through a nasal spray by first-responders.



Glynn has received awards from the federal government for starting the program, which has been adopted by the New York Police Department, the nation’s largest police force. Earlier this year, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder urged emergency personnel to carry the heroin antidote.



Some critics of Narcan have said the program enables drug addicts to continue abusing heroin and prescription painkillers called opioids, such as OxyContin and Percocet, because the reversal drug can save their lives. Narcan has become readily available to members of the public who want it in their homes just in case a family member or friend overdoses.



Glynn said there is no proof that heroin abuse has increased since Narcan became available. Also, he said people who take drugs thinking Narcan will save their lives are taking a huge risk because the opiate blocker isn’t always administered in time.



Glynn said there have been 47 overdose deaths in Quincy since October 2010.



The heroin antidote has been administered in apartments, parking lots, at the police station and in bathrooms of fast-food restaurants, Glynn said. Police try to refer people to drug treatment programs after Narcan is used. Glynn said 16 people in Quincy have been revived by Narcan on multiple occasions.



Patrick Ronan may be reached at pronan@ledger.com or follow on Twitter @PRonan_Ledger.



