Local officers trained in use of lifesaving drug
A grant from the Indiana Attorney General's Office has supplied local officers with a valuable tool to fight the effects of drug overdose.
Armed with intranasal doses of naloxone, officers can more readily respond to heroin and other narcotic overdoses.
All officers from the Greencastle Police Department, as well as representatives of the Putnam County Sheriff's Department and Cloverdale Police Department, were trained in the use of the drug on Wednesday at the GPD station.
During the training, the officers learned more about the drug and how to administer it in an emergency situation, which is via a nasal mist.
The grant paid for not only doses of the emergency life-saving drug, but for the training, both of which were supplied by Overdose Lifeline Inc., an Indiana-based non-profit founded by Justin Phillips, who lost her son to a heroin overdose three years ago.
While applying for the grant, GPD reached out to the other agencies as partners in the program. DePauw Public Safety Officers were trained and issued naloxone about a month ago.
In 2015, GPD responded to 17 reported overdoses and one death related to narcotics. The department reports a steady increase in drug-related arrests and calls.
In order to combat drug activity, the department has participated in the DEA-sponsored Drug Take-Back Day since its advent in 2011, disposing of hundreds of pounds of medications before they could end up in the wrong hounds.
In 2013, GPD also installed a container for the collection of medications in its front lobby. Residents may drop off expired, unused or unwanted medications in this container.
That program is available through a grant from CVS Pharmacy.
"The Greencastle Police Department continues to be proactive in combating the war on drugs in our community," Assistant Chief Brian Hopkins said. "By issuing our officers naloxone, if first on scene of an apparent opiate overdose, they can administer the drug and possibly save a life.
"Saving lives in our community is part of the 'serve and protect' motto of being a police officer here at the Greencastle Police Department."