Denver police and firefighters have administered 92 doses of a heroin antidote since July, when they began carrying the drug in all squad cars and firetrucks, according to data provided by the Denver Department of Safety.

Police and firefighters are carrying naloxone, which reverses the effects of an opiate overdose, as part of a statewide push to put as much of the antidote as possible into the community.

And it has been well-received by first-responders and community advocates who battle drug addiction.

“Naloxone is saving lives,” said Lisa Raville, executive director of Harm Reduction Action Center, a Denver public health agency that works with people who inject drugs.

During the same four-month period, Denver’s paramedics, who have administered the drug for several years, have given 1,050 doses, said Scott Bookman, Denver Health Medical Center’s chief paramedic.

The Denver Fire Department said it has successfully reversed overdoses 39 of the 87 times its staff has used naloxone.

It is sold under the brand name Narcan and costs about $20 a dose, he said.

Not every case is a reflection of an overdose in the community because first responders may give the drug to unresponsive patients even when there is no direct evidence that the person has used a drug. Naloxone has no harmful side effects, so it doesn’t hurt a patient if firefighters or paramedics administer it to someone who has not taken the drug, Bookman said.

Naloxone, which can be injected into the bloodstream or sprayed up the nose, also reverses the effects of other opiates such as oxycodone by blocking receptors in the brain.

For an overdose victim, the revival is almost instantaneous, Bookman said.

“You do have the moment where you go from seeing someone unconscious and not breathing to awake and breathing,” he said. “It’s pretty dramatic.”

The state legislature in 2013 passed a law to allow law enforcement to carry it. Thirty states have similar laws, Raville said.

This year, the legislature gave authority to the Colorado chief medical officer to write standing orders for pharmacies to distribute naloxone without a prescription. A pharmacy must apply for the standing order, and then it is able to give the drug to people who have addicts in their families or friendship circles.

Nationwide, public health advocates are combating heroin use. The epidemic is worse in some areas than in others.

In Denver, Raville described an “overdose epidemic,” but experts said it is hard to figure out just how widespread the drug is.

The Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center said it has received 58 calls about heroin overdose in 2015. That’s more than any other year since 2010, according to the center’s data.

It took nearly two years to put together a protocol for Denver police and fire and then train everyone to use naloxone.

Capt. Jeff Linville, EMS coordinator for the Denver Fire Department, said he pushed for it because firefighters often are the first on the scene of an emergency.

The firefighters carry vials of nasal spray in their medical bags.

When the drug is used, firefighters hold down a person’s arms and legs just in case they have a violent reaction during their revival.

“It poses a safety risk to our guys,” he said. “They wake up and we ruined their high. They wake up swinging.”

Advocates hope other police and fire agencies around the state begin issuing it to their troops. The Boulder Police Department is the only other Front Range agency using it, Raville said.

Others have shown interest, she said.

“We have seen law enforcement come out of the woodwork saying, ‘I want this because I’m often the first on the scene,’ ” Raville said.

Bookman said rural communities especially could benefit. In big cities, highly trained paramedics have access and respond to calls. But in rural areas, those resources are not available.

“There’s been a big push to get as much Narcan as humanly possible into the community,” he said. “We’re doing good stuff in Denver, and it’s helping people.”

Noelle Phillips: 303-954-1661, nphillips@denverpost.com or @Noelle_Phillips