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First responders in Houston County now equipped with life saving medication Naloxone nasal spray kits were distributed to all members of the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, Fire Department and Emergency Medical Technicians last month. WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – With narcotics overdoses on the rise in Houston County, first responders now have a way to rapidly reverse the effects of opioids thanks to county leaders. In Houston County, members of the Sheriff’s Office and Fire Department, as well as Emergency Medical Technicians, all received Narcan kits from the county Health Department in April. Narcan, also known by its generic name, Naloxone, is a medication that blocks opioid receptors in the nervous system.
When administered, naloxone can reverse the effects of an overdose caused by narcotics such as heroin or fentanyl. According to Assistant Chief Wayne Fisher of Houston County Sheriff’s Office, deputies respond to roughly five to 10 opioid overdoses each week in Warner Robins. “It does not take much of the drug itself to cause one to have an overdose reaction situation,” Assistant Chief Fisher said. He says the recent rise of opioid related overdoses made it necessary for first responders to carry the naloxone kits. “It’s been ongoing for some time,” he continued.
“Over the past five years or better, it’s been on an increase. It is on a very steep curve on the increase side over these past couple of years.” The kits were acquired through a joint effort between the Houston County Health Department, Chairman Dan Perdue, Fire Chief Christopher Stoner and District Attorney William Kendall. Assistant Chief Fisher says someone experiencing an overdose will not face prosecution, and that the sheriff’s office’s primary goal is to provide life saving services. “If a person observes or has knowledge of another person that has a drug use history and they appear to be in an overdose state, it’s imperative for that person that is in the overdose state that an emergency call to 911 is made so we can get proper care and treatment to prevent a death,” he said. Fisher says all deputies are trained in administering the medication, along with monitoring and reporting the distribution of naloxone in overdoses.
