Less than a week following training on the use of Narcan to reverse the effects of a heroin overdose, a Florence County Deputy deployed the drug on an unconscious and unresponsive individual.
On Saturday, March 25, 2017 at approximately 8:46 PM a FCSO deputy responded to a call of an apparent overdose on Hanna Lake Road near Johnsonville, SC. Finding the apparent victim unconscious, unresponsive and with symptoms of agonal breathing, the deputy deployed Narcan by way of nasal inhaler. Approximately one minute later the victim was breathing and responsive. The victim was later transported by EMS to an area hospital for further treatment.
Approximately 62 FCSO deputies attended the training put on by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control on the use of Narcan on Tuesday, March 21, 2017 and were approved and equipped to use the drug. Narcan, the brand name for the drug Naloxone is known to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose if administered in time.
“We knew that with this training it was only matter of time before one of our deputies would save a life,” Sheriff Kenney Boone stated. “We just didn’t know it would be less than a week. Thanks to the training and quick thinking of our deputy, this individual now has a second chance at life and we hope that they will make the decision to get help.”
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Major Michael M. Nunn
General Counsel/P.I.O.
