Frontline Ontario Provincial Police officers have saved 102 lives using the overdose-reversing drug Naloxone since the force began using it in 2017.
The OPP reports between 2016 and 2018, there has been a 121% increase in overdoses.
Sgt. Pauline Ottoson with OPP in Collingwood has been an officer for 27 years. Trained to use the live-saving kit, she'd only been carrying for a few months Ottoson brought a man back to life after he overdosed at a downtown apartment.
“I just remember taking the Naloxone out of the pouch and giving him one dose,” said Ottoson. “He was unresponsive, he was barely breathing at all, his eyes were rolled back into his head and he was really clammy to touch,” she said. “I thought he was either going to die, or was already dead.”
Ottoson administered one dose of the nasal spray and revived the man. Within hours, he was released from hospital.
“It would be nice if opioids were not being used to the extent they are but they are out there so we have to do whatever we can to help combat people from dying from it unnecessarily,” said the veteran officer.
OPP Central and West regions have the highest overdose incident reports in the province. About two-thirds of all overdoses are men; the Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit said average between the ages of 24 and 44.
“It's a great tool to utilize as we are often times first ones on scene,” said OPP Constable Martin Hachey; though he cautions against the reliance on the drug to work every time it is used.
“Naloxone should not be looked at as something that is going to save you 100% of the time. There are times when the dosage of the opioid is so high that even 2 or 3 deployments of Naloxone is simply not enough,” said Hachey.
