A Levittown-based rescue squad responded to a call Sunday where police used overdose antidote Naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan, to save a man’s life.
Lower Makefield police saved a man believed to be overdosing on heroin around 1:10 p.m. Sunday in the 1500 block of Applewood Circle.
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Officials said they believe it is the first Narcan rescue made by police in Bucks County.
Members of the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad responded to the call along with the Yardley-Makefield Emergency Unit.
The man, in his early 20s, was unresponsive in a hallway and did not appear to be breathing. A 1 mg dose of Narcan was administered and the officer awaited medics, police said. Officers arrived around 3 to 4 minutes after the call came in.
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Crews from the Levittown-Fairless Hills Rescue Squad and Yardley-Makefield Emergency Unit rushed to the scene and provided care and the man’s breathing appeared to return to normal, police said.
A short time later, the man was awake and able to coherently answer questions, police said.
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The man was taken to Aria Health’s Bucks County campus in Falls Township and released later in the day.
During an overdose, the victim’s brain is slowly starved of oxygen, which can cause serious and life-threatening damage in a matter of minutes. Dr. Ken Lavelle, who works for Jefferson Hospital in Philadelphia and local EMS agencies, recently told reporters that police are usually first to arrive at overdose calls and can administer Narcan through a nasal atomiser and help save the overdose victim.
Police from Falls, Lower Makefield, Middletown, Morrisville, Newtown and Yardley first received kits with overdose antidote in February. They were the first in the county to get the live-saving Narcan, but officials said they were not the last. More departments are working to equip their officers with Narcan.
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At Sunday’s call, officers found drug paraphernalia at the scene, police said. Detectives are continuing to investigate the source of the suspected heroin.
