PARIS — A Bethel resident overdosing on heroin Wednesday night was revived by the quick action of a deputy, thanks to a new policy of carrying opioid medicine in cruisers, police said.
The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office received word of a possible overdose at a Bethel residence around 9:51 p.m. When a deputy arrived on scene, he found the individual unconscious, unresponsive and breathing abnormally, Chief Deputy Hart Daley said.
The responding officer, Deputy Derek MacDonald, saw the individual’s face and lips turning blue, a symptom of an opioid overdose. He administered Narcan, a medicine that inhibits opioids, and attended the individual until Bethel Rescue personnel arrived.
The individual was revived and transported to the hospital. Daley said it was the department’s first save since police began equipping Narcan at the beginning of June. He was not arrested.
“Carrying Narcan has been a movement in this state and around the country for a while,” Daley said. “We felt because of the high instances in Oxford County, and being the largest law enforcement agency, we needed to carry this.
“We cover all of the rural areas and, in many instances, we are the first to arrive on the scene,” he said.
Daley said the Attorney General’s office supplied the department with the medicine at no cost to local taxpayers. Most deputies have been trained to administer Narcan, applied nasally much like a saline spray.
Last year, 272 people died in Maine as a result of overdosing — a 31 percent jump over 2014, which itself set a record at 208.
To combat the rise in deaths, in September 2015, law enforcement agencies, private organizations, community nonprofits and concerned citizens launched the Western Maine Addiction Task Force with the goal of convincing users they were there to help, not arrest them.
In April, a mother credited the task force with saving her son.
“This is truly a medical emergency,” Daley said. “Many law enforcement agencies have developed the philosophy that an addict needs help, and that’s our course of action so they can rehabilitate. The goal isn’t to charge.”
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