By WPXI
PITCARIN, Pa. —
Pitcairn police will become the first department in Western Pennsylvania to be equipped to administer a potentially life-saving medication to heroin overdose victims, officials said.
In partnership with Allegheny Health Network and Forbes Hospital in Monroeville, Pitcairn will equip its officers with naloxone — known by its brand name, Narcan — a drug that counteracts the effects of heroin or opiates through a nasal spray or injection into a muscle with an Epipen-type autoinjector. It will not reverse damage from overdoses or the effects of cocaine, methamphetamine and other narcotics.
This article was written by Channel 11’s news exchange partners at TribLIVE.
The few minutes between a police officer’s arrival and the arrival of medics can be critical, said Dr. Daniel Schwartz, EMS medical director at Forbes Hospital. Most ambulances and medics carry the medication, but aren’t always on scene first, he said.