Armed with Narcan, deputies save lives

On the front lines of the fight against the opioid epidemic, Ozaukee County Sheriff’s deputies and other law enforcement and health professionals have few weapons.

One however does save lives and even protects deputies from the effect of opioids. 

That’s Narcan, a brand name for the drug generically called nalaxone, which every deputy carries and administers to people who are overdosing on heroin, oxycodone, morphine, Vicodin, codeine or other opioids in hopes of restoring their breathing and reviving them.

That is, if they can get there in time.

Deputies have used Narcan 11 times this year, Undersheriff Christy Knowles said. 

Narcan blocks the effects of opioids, especially decreased breathing in overdose cases.  

Three of those deputies who arrived in time to save a life were recently recognized by Sheriff Jim Johnson.

Deputy Calvin Wink was presented a Lifesaving Award by Johnson for using Narcan on July 29 to revive an Ozaukee County Jail inmate who had been out on work release and had just returned to the jail.

The inmate was unresponsive, had clenched fists and pinpoint pupils. He was gasping for breath and had an extremely low pulse, according to a Sheriff’s Office press release.

Wink recognized the symptoms of an opiate overdose and administered two doses of Narcan, restoring his breathing.

In another incident on Sept. 3, Deputy Jesse Sayotovich was called to the Mobil gas station in Fredonia concerning a man who had fallen asleep in his car. He was joined by Deputy Justin DeSmidt.

The man’s breathing was shallow and was not responding to knocks on his car window. Sayotovich could see a bundle of white powder in the center console of the car and could hear the man gasping for breath.

Sayotovich rubbed the man’s sternum and was able to get him to open his eyes, but he soon passed out again.

DeSmidt recognized that the man was suffering from an overdose and told Sayotovich to prepare and administer a dose of Narcan. The man’s breathing improved but he was barely conscious. 

Rescue personnel soon arrived  and took over caring for the man and administered a second dose of Narcan at the scene and a third one on the way to the hospital.

Johnson said the two deputies and rescue personnel demonstrated “a high level of teamwork.”

Sayotovich earned a Lifesaving Award and DeSmidt a letter of commendation from Johnson.

The Sheriff’s Office has been using Narcan for five years.

“Heroin is still our number one drug problem in Ozaukee County,” Knowles said. “We’re recovering more heroin during incidents and traffic stops than any other drug, behind marijuana.”

Narcan costs $37.50 per dose, which is administered in a nasal spray. 

“It’s an easier way for our officers to administer rather than inject it,” Knowles said.

The Sheriff’s Office current supply of Narcan was supplied for free by the U.S. Department of Justice for participating in the Drug Takeback Day, when people can dispose of their unused or out-of-date prescriptions.

“We received 100 doses from DOJ,” she said.

Typically, deputies administer two 4-milligram doses, having formerly used two-milligram doses.

The increased dosage is due at least in part to heroin being increasingly laced with fentanyl, a far more powerful opioid. 

“Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin so you get a high much faster,” Knowles said. “So you need less of it, making it more lucrative for whoever sells it.”

Fentanyl is so powerful that an amount equal to a few grains of salt can be fatal, she said.

The effects of Narcan last 30 minutes to an hour. The duration of the opioids is often longer than that, requiring multiple doses of Narcan.

But the increased potency of fentanyl makes it a certainty that multiple doses will be needed to revive someone.

“We did five doses one time to save a person,” Knowles said.

It can even permeate plastic gloves worn by law enforcement or rescue personnel.

“We carry Narcan for ourselves,” Knowles said. “We have to be extremely careful.”

No Ozaukee deputies have been hospitalized because of exposure to fentanyl, Knowles said, but some in other counties have.

“It’s making us take different precautions as a law enforcement agency because our people can go into a car to search a car after an arrest — it might not even be a drug arrest — and they can get the effects of the heroin and the fentanyl,” Knowles told the Belgium Town Board earlier this year.

“We have to take a lot of extra steps to ensure safety of our officers.”