POLSON – The Polson Police Department has added Narcan to help combat opiate or opioid drug-induced overdoses in the area.
Narcan is used to stop the symptoms of an opioid overdose, and although there are different ways to administer the drug the PPD will be using the most common form: the nasal spray.
Polson officers have gone through two different training sessions to be prepared to use the life-saving drug in the field.
The idea to bring the drug into Polson came from a different law enforcement agency in Montana that has already been using the drug with great success.
“You may be familiar with Lieutenant Sanderson, so we have a good rapport with him and a good rapport with Highway Patrol and I was talking to him at a training and he had mentioned that the Highway Patrol uses that because their troopers are obviously out all over the state,” Polson Police Sergeant George Simpson said. “Sometimes it takes them some time to get some ambulance and medical treatment to him. So I said hey do you think that something that we could get into and he said absolutely. There is a grant that came through for the state through the Department of Health and that’s how it came to be.”
Law enforcement in Billings, Butte and Ravalli County have also started equipping their staff with Narcan within the last year.
Polson Police say to watch out for the symptoms of an overdose and to call for medical help immediately if you suspect that someone is overdosing. It might save their life.
