GLOUCESTER, Massachusetts — Police responded to a medical emergency for a 26-year-old male who was unconscious and turning blue. The officers found the man by the commuter rail tracks off Whittemore Street with labored breathing and a fresh needle mark on his arm. The patient’s girlfriend was also on scene and told the officers he had just used heroin. At that time, the police administered one round of intranasal Narcan. The ambulance crew then arrived on scene and administered a second dose, which brought the man back to consciousness. The patient was then transported to Addison Gilbert Hospital.

In 2011, Gloucester became the first city in the state to have both police and firefighters carry Narcan. Other cities within the state, such as Amesbury, have started to adopt this practice and recently announced that Amesbury Police Department will start carrying narcan as well. [Read the full story…]