Last updated : November 11, 2024
In February, the Atlanta Police Department unveiled its plans to add a new weapon in their arsenal to aid in the agency’s fight to decrease the number of citizens who die each year due to heroin overdoses.
At that time, the department announced its intentions to supply more than 100 officers who work in the area known as Atlanta’s Zone 1 with Naloxone, a drug that can reverse the life-threatening symptoms that can come with heroin overdoses. The drug, which is administered through the nose, is more commonly known as Narcan.
Atlanta’s Zone 1 includes a portion of west Atlanta consisting of Bank Head, Vine City and English Avenue.
Elizabeth Espy, spokeswoman for the department, explained that it makes sense to outfit police officers with Narcan because they are often the first to arrive at an emergency scene. In cases involving heroin overdoses, action taken within the first few minutes can make the difference between saving a life and recording yet another drug-related fatality.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics report, the age-adjusted rate reflecting unintentional poisoning deaths linked to heroin nearly quadrupled between 2000 and 2013, with the CDC recording 0.7 fatalities for every 100,000 people in 2000 up to 2.7 deaths per 100,000 citizens in 2013. The death toll shot up markedly after 2010, and these numbers have made drug poisoning fatalities the new leading cause of injury-related deaths in America.
Espy stated the officers who work primarily in Zone 1 will be the first in the department to carry Narcan, but all officers will be equipped with the drug once they complete the necessary training in the near future. Zone 1 encompasses a particular part of Atlanta that is locally known as “the Bluff,” a region that law enforcement believes is home to one of the highest concentration of drug users in the city.
While Narcan has proven ineffective for treating patients who overdose on cocaine or other illicit drugs, Espy said it is capable of reversing a heroin overdose if it is administered within the first few minutes after use.
In a press statement issued to area news outlets, Atlanta Police Chief George Turner expressed hope that the city will be able to contribute to the rising number of success stories that have come as a result of Narcan use at police departments around the country.
“If there is a way for our officers to save a life by using Narcan, then that will be incredible,” Turner stated.
National statistics highlighted by the Atlanta Police Department illustrated the importance of providing officers with this potentially life-saving tool. The department noted that over 36,000 Americans lost their lives as a result of drug overdoses every year, with half of those deaths being blamed on opioids.
On the local level, heroin-related deaths in Fulton County shot up to 31 in 2013, compared to the 24 recorded during the previous year. In Atlanta alone, more than 25 citizens died from heroin overdoses last year.
