SOUTH Yorkshire Police have used a life-saving drug which counteracts the effects of a potentially lethal opioid overdose for the first time.
Naloxone is now carried by South Yorkshire frontline officers and the nasal spray helps to reverse the effects of overdoses from opioids such as heroin and morphine as well as synthetic opioids, including methadone, fentanyl and Nitazenes.
On Friday, Naloxone was administered for the first time by a South Yorkshire Police officer to a woman who was found unwell and unresponsive in Sheffield city centre after suffering a suspected drugs overdose.
Sergeant Simon Pickering noticed the woman during a patrol of the area and after she failed to respond to attempts to revive her, Naloxone was given to her.
Sgt Pickering said that she began to respond within five minutes of the nasal spray being administered. He and a colleague then stayed with her until paramedics arrived to provide further medical assistance.
"Administering the Naloxone stopped her from going into cardiac arrest and potentially saved her life," Sgt Pickering said.
"I was really impressed by the response of Naloxone and it was very unintrusive as it works as a nasal spray."
