Drug to fight heroin overdoses coming to patrol cars

The next time someone in Eaton County overdoses on heroin, life-saving help might arrive in a patrol car rather than an ambulance.

Heroin overdoses have reached what one local doctor calls an “epidemic level” but a new state law allows police to carry and administer the anti-overdose drug Narcan to someone who is overdosing. A separate law makes the drug available to families of addicts.

Most area sheriff’s departments expect to soon have the drug on board patrol cars. The need is likely greater in rural areas, where law enforcement has a greater chance of arriving on scene before an ambulance, experts said.

“The goal is to save lives,” Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich said.

His department is the first local agency to train and equip deputies with the drug. The training started in February. The drugs went in patrol cars last month, Reich said.

Heroin use and, as a result, overdoses are rising locally and around the county. There have been at least 99 heroin overdose deaths in Ingham and Eaton counties since 2010, 40 of those in the last 17 months, according to the Ingham County medical examiner’s office.

Among the most recent was 21-year-old Anthony Hawley, a senior at MSU who was found unresponsive in January in a house by a roommate. The East Lansing Police Department said this week that Hawley’s death was the result of a heroin overdose.

The actual number of heroin overdose deaths is likely higher. As heroin is broken down quickly in the body, by the time an autopsy or toxicology report is completed what might have been heroin can show up as another opioid drug, said Phil Pavona, vice president of the Okemos/Ingham County chapter of Families Against Narcotics.

In 2014, there were 70 drug-related deaths in Ingham County and 52 of those people had at least one opioid drug in their system, according to Pavona’s analysis of data from the medical examiner’s office. He added that, in the first three months of 2015, there have been 22 drug-related deaths in Ingham County and 18 of them included at least one opioid drug.

Narcan can quickly reverse affects of a heroin overdose. It does nothing to address the drug addiction. It might save a life in the short term, but the underlying issues remain.

“Narcan is by no means a tool for people in terms of leading them to a path of recovery,” said Linda Vail, health officer with the Ingham County Health Department. “It is a quick fix for a near-death event. It gives someone a second chance.”

Between 1996 and 2010, Narcan was distributed to 53,032 people in 188 communities around the country and there were 10,171 reports of reversed overdoses, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

Its effectiveness is why it’s been called “the Lazarus drug,” Pavano said.

Heroin works by “locking into” the opioid receptors in the brain, like a key into a lock, Vail said. The more intense the drug is, the harder it locks into those receptors, she said. When Narcan is administered it knocks out the heroin locked into the receptors and immediately replaces it with Narcan, which is why it can reverse an overdose immediately, she said.

“It’s extremely efficient,” Vail said. “You’ll have somebody that’s about to die from an overdose of heroin. And you can push Narcan and basically have them back just like that.”

New law, old drug

Narcan isn’t new. But it’s only a temporary fix — briefly hitting reset on someone’s life — so additional medical care can be given, said Dr. John Dery, associate medical director in the emergency room at Sparrow Hospital.

And because a heroin overdose affects the respiratory system, oxygen gets cut off from the brain and minutes can make a difference, he said.

“Every moment without oxygen counts,” Dery said.

For the past seven years, the medical staff in the Eaton County jail has been equipped with Narcan and has used it five times in the past two years, Reich said.

The law allows law enforcement agencies to buy Narcan directly from a pharmaceutical company, Pavona said, but in the last few months the price has risen and the increased demand has delayed orders. A single Narcan kit can cost between $28 and $60, he said.

So far, the Eaton County deputies are the first to have the drug in patrol cars. The sheriff’s departments in Ingham and Clinton counties will likely have Narcan in the near future, officials said. The Lansing Police Department is looking into the issue, a spokesman said.

The East Lansing Police Department and MSU Police don’t equip officers with Narcan and don’t have current plans to. Officials said there is less of a need because ambulances have the drug and usually arrive first to the scene of an overdose.

The Ingham County Sheriff’s Department’s policy for Narcan use is being reviewed, then the deputies will be trained before it will be in patrol cars and available, Undersheriff Allan Spyke said. He added that the department worked with Vail and the health department to set the protocols for its use.

“If we have the ability to save even one life then it’s worth it,” he said. “I’ve been at a heroin overdose. I was the first one on scene (for one) a couple weeks ago.”

In that instance, EMTs arrived and were able to administer Narcan and save the person’s life, Spyke said. Soon that help might not have to wait as long.

“We see a problem,” Spyke said. “This is a tool to help us try and save someone.”

Heroin overdose deaths

Since 2010, overdose deaths in Ingham County have increased each year. There have been seven confirmed deaths so far in 2015. But there could have been more in the first few months of this year because toxicology reports take several weeks. There are four deaths that could be ruled as heroin overdoses, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Eaton County saw one heroin overdose death in all of 2010 and 2011, but had 10 in 2012 through 2014. The medical examiner’s office didn’t have 2015 data available for Eaton County.

Ingham County

2010 -- 5

2011 — 15

2012 — 16

2013 — 17

2014 — 28

2015 — 8

Eaton County

2010 — 1

2011 — 0

2012 — 5

2013 — 1

2014 — 4

Source: Ingham County Medical Examiner’s office.

How Narcan works

Narcan can be administered through a nasal spray, an IV or an injection directly into the muscle, similar to shots to counteract allergic reactions, Dr. John Dery, associate medical director in the emergency room at Sparrow Hospital.

It replaces the heroin locked into the opioid receptors in the brain, which means it can immediately reverse the overdose, he said, but it’s only a temporary fix. Narcan wears off after about 20 to 30 minutes, he said, at which point additional medical attention will be needed.

The drug is also safe to use, Dery said, and can be given to someone who isn’t overdosing without negative impacts. This is a benefit for law enforcement or emergency personnel assessing a situation where the person, who is suspected to be overdosing, can’t speak or people are hesitant to admit to drug use.