Recognizing a national wave of opioid and heroin related deaths, the Reedsport Police Department has recently equipped officers with a potentially life-saving nasal spray.

Made possible largely because of a financial donation from a local community member as well as support from the Lower Umpqua Hospital, officers are now equipped with doses of a nasal spray known on the market as Narcan. The spray reverses the effects of overdoses related to pain killers, heroin and most recently a synthetic version of fentanyl, a drug that’s up to 100 times stronger than morphine.

Narcan is easy to use and is low risk, and it requires no medical training for officers. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that an average of 161 people died across the nation of drug related overdoses in 2015.

Police Chief Duane Wisehart said, “The use of Narcan will not stop or cure the addiction epidemic, but using it may save a life and give that person the opportunity to make a different life choice.”

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