A local campus law enforcement department's officers have been trained to administer and will soon be carrying a medicine that can revive — within minutes — people who overdosed on opioid or heroin. 

The Indiana State University Police on Tuesday became the first higher education law enforcement division in Indiana to be educated on the use of intra-nasal drug naloxone during opiate/heroine overdose emergencies.

"You are the first campus to embrace this," said training facilitator Donna Purviance, a triage nurse practitioner and a recent graduate of ISU's Nursing Practice doctoral program. 

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller and state Sen. Jim Merritt attended the training session. Merritt was co-author of the Indiana Lifeline law, which gave legal immunity to first responders to administer the drug. The law was passed in 2014. 

Zoeller said he came to the training to congratulate ISU's leadership for "stepping up to show that the campus/university is going to be a leader in training their law enforcement to be first on the scene with the ability to save the life of someone" who may have overdosed on these opiates. 

Nolaxone, marketed under the trade name Narcan, is an opioid antagonist. It counteracts the effects of a prescription painkiller or heroin overdose, according to a press release issued by the Indiana Attorney General's office. It can be given to the patient through the nose. "They [first responders] can save a life simply by administering this up [the patient's] nose," Zoeller said. "It's really a great opportunity for the men and women who serve and protect to also save a life."

But those affected by such overdoses may not be traditional drug abusers. Zoeller, co-chair of the Indiana Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention Task Force, said 77 percent of the people who overdose started with having a doctor's prescription for pain. 

Since the law's passing, over a thousand people in Marion County were saved by Narcan in the last year, Merritt said. "And almost 500 this year alone," he told the ISU police officers. "So this is a big responsibility. I'm so glad that you all are going to learn about it today."

On Tuesday, 26 ISU police officers received the training. During it, Purviance explained the basics about opiod and naloxone, how to recognize opioid overdose, putting the spray equipment together and how to administer the antidote. A patient simulator was used during the demonstration of a fictional overdose scenario. 

"The beauty of this drug is that it only works on an opiate, nothing else. You can't hurt anybody by giving it to them," Purviance told police.

After it is given, the medicine can revive a person within two to five minutes, but it is important for the patient to get to the hospital within an hour. The patient could wake up slowly and steadily, or he/she could be wake up fighting, she warned first responders. 

In October 2014, a similar training was conducted by Purviance to the Vigo County Sheriff's Department. 

Now that training has concluded, ISU police are ready to take their new knowledge and equipment to the field.

ISU Police Chief Joe Newport said implementation of the program could happen in the next two weeks, after some details on policy are clarified. "We want to be as prepared as we can be to be in a position to help ... as first responders," he said. 

 

Reporter Dianne Frances D. Powell can be reached at 812-231-4299 or dianne.powell@tribstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @TribstarDianne.

Trending Video