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NEW JERSEY COPS ■ FEBRUARY 2014
The delay in deploying Naloxone/Narcan
New Jersey law enforcement officers may
soon be armed with Naloxone nasal spray to
help combat the increase in overdose deaths
due to heroin and opioid prescription pill abuse.
The potential for police officers to have the ability to possess the prescription antidote comes
through the passage of the much-publicized
“Overdose Prevention Act” of 2013. The law,
N.J.S.A. 24:6J-1 et seq., which most notably provides immunity in certain drug overdose incidents, and also provides for Naloxone to be possessed by
individuals who “may be in a position to assist another individual during an overdose.”
Naloxone is the generic version of the more commonly
known antidote medication Narcan. Naloxone, in an injectable
form, is currently carried by paramedics and utilized as acute
care at scenes of drug overdoses to immediately reverse some
of the most deadly effects of opioids. For many years, officers on
patrol have witnessed the immediate effect of Narcan/Naloxone when it is administered to an otherwise deceased drug
overdose patient at a scene. The nasal spray is a more basic
delivery method which will allow an officer, or any person qualifying under the statute, to easily administer the medication in
an overdose situation. The timely administration of the medication may increase the likelihood of survival in what would
otherwise be a fatal overdose. Clearly, the law was passed with
the intention of reducing overdose deaths and providing fam-
ily members and communities with a mechanism for saving
lives.
The process of deploying the critical care medication to
police officers in the field is currently delayed by a level of
bureaucracy not accounted for in the law. While the Overdose
Prevention Act contains very simple language allowing a
“health care professional” to provide a third-party prescription
to a person who may be in a position to assist another individual during an overdose, the law also includes the requirement
that the health care professional dispensing the Naloxone
account for an appropriate level of training. The statute, N.J.S.A.
24:6J-5, specifically requires that a health care professional
“shall ensure that the person receives patient overdose information.”
The specific curriculum and training standards associated
with providing the mandated patient overdose information
(training) were not established nor were they published when
the law was enacted. This requirement under the law, as well as
other bureaucratic impediments, has delayed the antidote from
being dispensed. Health care professionals are simply not yet in
a position to legally prescribe the Naloxone to citizens (e.g., a
concerned family member) nor are they in a position to prescribe the antidote to police officers.
Given the complexity of the opioid addiction epidemic currently plaguing New Jersey, the deployment of Naloxone in
homes to family members and throughout a community
through first-responders will not come without a considerable
degree of skepticism. Questions will undoubtedly be asked
whether the availability of Naloxone in a home will serve as a
false sense of security for a person abusing heroin or prescription opioid pills. Will there be cases of increased abuse due to
a sense that there is less risk of death when Naloxone is present in the home or in the community? Will there be cases involving families who don’t follow through on the mandatory
component of calling 9-1-1 for medical assistance after administering a dose of Naloxone in the home? This is an important
question, as the dose of Naloxone only temporarily inhibits the
negative effects of the opioid; therefore, immediate follow-up
care is essential.
There are certainly a number of additional questions that will
need to be answered over time. Just as with the many other
unintended consequences related to the responses to the heroin epidemic, this too will need to be assessed and properly evaluated once implemented. d
Dr. David A. Paprota is the Chief of Police in Lacey Township
and the Executive Director of Critical Concepts & Strategies –
CCS, an entry level exam preparation company which focuses
on preparing candidates for the NJCSC (Entry Level) Law
Enforcement Examination (LEE). Dr. Paprota has trained
more than 15,000 candidates for their respective NJCSC exams
during the past 22 years. Further information may be
obtained through his website at www.ccstest.com or email
questions to info@ccstest.com.