CLARKSVILLE — The first time Clark County Sheriff's Office Detective Donovan Harrod administered the overdose reversal drug Naloxone, he saved a life.
Harrod wasn't on duty the night of May 26, but he kept his ears on the police scanner. He had just dropped off his kids in Clarksville where he lives when he heard over dispatch that a man was overdosing in River Chase Apartments on Yale Drive.
Harrod said he got to the apartment complex in about four minutes, before EMS arrived. When he entered the unlocked apartment, he found the man unresponsive, his lips blue and skin ash grey. His breathing was shallow and his pulse was hard to find. His roommate couldn't tell first responders what drug he took.
"It was very critical timing," Harrod said.
A Clarksville police officer was also on scene, but Harrod had something the other officer didn't: a life-saving medication that could reverse the effects of overdose. Sheriff's detectives like Harrod started carrying Naloxone in March, two months after the Indiana Attorney General's office awarded a $75,000 grant to Overdose Lifeline Inc., a nonprofit organization that agreed to supply Naloxone kits and training to high-priority counties.
According to the Clark County Health Department, there were 56 overdose deaths in 2015 and 28 so far in 2016. Newly armed with Naloxone, local police and fire departments hope those numbers will decrease. Along with the Clark County Sheriff's Office and EMS, the Jeffersonville and Clarksville police and fire departments recently started carrying Naloxone.
"Obviously with the heroin epidemic we're in right now, that's the tool we're going to be using a lot more often, unfortunately," Harrod said.
May 26 was the first time Harrod or any Clark County Sheriff's officer witnessed the power of Naloxone. Using a syringe packed with a small vile of the medication, Harrod sprayed one pre-measured dose into the man's nostrils. He and the Clarksville police officer then performed CPR and the man soon started to show signs of life.
About five minutes after Harrod walked into the apartment, EMS arrived and was able to give the man a heavier dose. Clarksville Police Department Detective Scott Merchant said some ranking officers were trained on how to use Naloxone in April. He couldn't confirm whether the officer who responded that night had the medication, but he said a patrolman likely wouldn't have it yet.
"Had he not had early intervention for the dosage, he probably would have perished," Harrod said.
Clarksville Fire Department Chief Brandon Skaggs also saw firsthand what Naloxone can do just a few weeks ago when he responded to an overdose. But at that time, his department wasn't equipped with Naloxone. Instead, he waited for EMS to arrive and administer the medication.
"And it was a quick turnaround for the patient," Skaggs said. "It's pretty amazing to see it work. It really is."
Depending on the call, it could be fire, EMS or police who arrive first to an overdose. That's why, Skaggs said, all agencies have to work closely together. With the help of Clark Memorial Hospital, Skaggs said all of his firefighters — about 35 of them — are trained to use Naloxone.
FLOYD COUNTY
In neighboring Floyd County, Naloxone is largely left to EMS. The New Albany police and fire departments don't stock the medication. Neither does the Floyd County Sheriff's Office.
The Floyd County Health Department could not provide fatal overdose data by press time. But according to Floyd Memorial Hospital, the hospital saw 330 overdose ingestions — which included alcohol — in 2015, an increase of 133 from the year prior. The hospital could not provide data on fatal overdoses.
Floyd County Sheriff Frank Loop said his officers responded to 22 overdose calls in 2015 and 14 so far this year. Loop did not know if any of those were fatal.
"I don't know what people here locally are doing, but we're just now in the process of investigating [Naloxone]," Loop said.
Loop went to a training course in Louisville to learn more about the medication and said he's not opposed to equipping his officers with it, but he has concerns.
"Number one, it's $37.50 per dose and it takes two or three doses to save the person. And then the other thing is that it's temperature dependent so you can't leave it in your car," Loop said, adding that finding a way for officers to properly store Naloxone could require more money.
Loop said with only three or four officers patrolling the county, his department doesn't typically respond to overdoses unless EMS decides it needs assistance. He added that given how financially strapped the department is, Naloxone isn't yet a priority.
New Albany Police Department Chief Todd Bailey was not available for an interview Tuesday but said his department is looking into Naloxone. New Albany Fire Department Chief Matthew Juliot said his department is also looking into the life-saving medication.
Skaggs said he's excited to have an extra tool to save lives, but he isn't sure if the people saved will learn from the near-death experience.
"I would love to say [it would], but I just believe right now that the effects that heroin has taken on some of the addicts in the area is just too great," Skaggs said. "We've made several runs to the same residence, not necessarily the same person, but I just think that it's going to take education."