SAN FRANCISCO—The San Francisco Police Department announced Friday, November 13 that the pharmaceutical, Narcan, is successful so far in reversing the effects of opioid overdoses in patients.
The SFPD partnered with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and the Harm Reduction Coalition Drug Overdose Prevention and Education (DOPE) project five years ago to form an initiative to combat opioid overdoses in the San Francisco community.
In March 2015, Naloxone Hydrochloride kits (or Narcan) were put in all SFPD police cars patrolling the Metro Division. The SFPD said that police were trained to recognize opioid overdoses and treat them with Narcan when on the job.
In April 2017, the initiative was expanded after showing promising change. As a result, all SFPD police cars now carry Narcan kits.
Narcan kits have been administered successfully over the past fives years, the SFPD reported in a news release. In 2020, 516 opioid related deaths have occurred.
“Narcan kits have become an extremely useful tool for officers in safeguarding lives,” the SFPD said. “Prompt screening and assignment of 9-1-1 calls by Department of Emergency
Management dispatchers and early intervention by SFPD officers equipped with Narcan
kits, combined with skilled care and transport by paramedics to an emergency room all
increase the chances of survival for an overdose victim.”
