Cherry Hill police officers recently participated in Naloxone training hosted by the Camden County Prosecutor’s Office. Dr. Kenneth Lavelle, EMS director and clinical instructor of emergency medicine at Jefferson Medical College provided the instruction to officers who then returned to the agency as Naloxone intranasal spray instructors.
The department invested in 30 Naloxone kits to be deployed by officers in patrol as they are often the first to arrive at a 9–1–1 call for a drug overdose. One side effect of heroin and other opioids is respiratory depression. The active drug in the spray, Naloxone, overrides the impact of the opioids and generally within two to three minutes, has a reversal affect.
On July 31, officers from the Cherry Hill Police Department were first on the scene of a drug overdose and successfully administered Naloxone spray. The medication counteracted the opioids effects thereby saving the subject’s life.
Recognizing that the epidemic of prescription and heroin overdose deaths is a statistic that is affecting everyone today, the Cherry Hill Police Department has taken a proactive approach to combat this crisis. In addition to the Naloxone training, officers developed a curriculum, which was recently presented to a group of high school students warning of the dangers of prescription drug and heroin abuse. The Cherry Hill Police Department also takes part in Project Medicine Drop and has a collection box which allows for the proper and safe disposal of unwanted or expired household medications 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Medications can be brought to the Cherry Hill Police Station to be placed in the Project Medicine Drop box anonymously and free of charge.
For addiction help and information, you are urged to call the Addiction Awareness Task Force at (877) 266–8222.
