D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on Friday that the District police officers will be equipped with naloxone, a medication that can treat narcotic overdose in emergency situations.
D.C. Department of Health will get more than 50,000 naloxone kits which will be purchased through federal funding. Community based organizations working in the city will continue to be provided with naloxone kits by the agency.
Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) patrol officers will be given naloxone kits by the end of this year under the mayor’s plan, starting from the most affected areas where opioid overdoses were reported like Ward 7 and 8, and also downtown D.C. locations. Patrol officers will be trained by MPD about how to use naloxone kits.
“We’re very focused on developing solutions to the opioid epidemic that meet the needs of our specific community. This plan takes into account the experiences and advice of our public health and safety experts, and represents our commitment to doing everything we can to save lives and end this epidemic,” Bowser said in the press release. “By working together as a community … we can end the opioid epidemic in Washington, D.C.”
“.@MayorBowser announced a major expansion of the District’s investment in a lifesaving antidote to drug overdoses, pledging to buy more than 50,000 naloxone kits as part of new efforts to address the city’s opioid crisis.” https://t.co/Eq74p09DbM
— Deputy Mayor Chris Geldart (@SafeDC) January 19, 2019
Naloxone is considered to be a safe and effective medicine to treat opioid overdoses. The kit comprises two doses of naloxone nasal spray. MPD patrol officers, affected residents and community organizations will be provided with naloxone kits to counter the opioid overdose cases in their respective areas.
“MPD is committed to working with our public health partners so we can better serve our communities suffering from the ongoing opioid crisis,” said Police Chief Peter Newsham.
The announcement comes at a time when the city has been criticized for its handling of opioid deaths in view of a Washington Post investigation into the crisis. As per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, from 2012 to 2017, overdose deaths in D.C. have shot up by 249 percent, which is higher than any other urban area in the U.S. There have been 279 deaths from opioid overdoses in the city in 2017 alone.