Life-saving nasal spray coming to Dacorum treating drug overdoses

Batches of a life-saving nasal spray is being made available to police officers in Dacorum to help assist people who may be suffering from a suspected drug overdose.

Hertfordshire police have confirmed that the spray that has been trialled for six months will be used force-wide going forward.

Hertfordshire Constabulary says during a six-month trial period with the new equipment, three lives have been saved.

Frontline officers in Dacorum, Stevenage, Watford and Welwyn Hatfield have been using the spray during this time period.

Response drivers are trained to use naloxone spray on those suffering from a suspected opiate overdose by temporarily reversing the effects of the drug.

Dacorum Chief Inspector Jason Keane, who is overseeing the project, said: “Naloxone is literally saving people’s lives up and down the country and here in Herts officers have saved three lives during our initial six-month pilot, which is fantastic.

“These small, easy to administer nasal sprays are just another tool in our trauma kit which can mean the difference between life and death.

“The spray, which buys vital time before paramedics arrive on the scene, cannot cause any harm, even if it later transpires that the person was suffering from another medical condition.

“Initially we trained 100 response drivers from our Intervention, Safer Neighbourhood and Scorpion teams. Now we are rolling out that training to response drivers across the entire constabulary, which means we’ll be equipped to save more lives.”

Naloxone only provides a temporary impact so further medical treatment is still required.

Specialist training is being provided to officers by the charity Change Grow Live (CGL) in partnership with Hertfordshire County Council.

County service manager at Spectrum CGL, Trudy Sealy said: “This ground-breaking project has already saved three lives! We are working proactively to raise awareness around opiate overdoses which has resulted in police officers now carrying nasal naloxone. This pilot and roll out is a huge step forward in preventing opiate deaths and has already made a difference to the communities we serve and together we will strive to continue to save lives.”

Two of the three life-saving interventions involving the use of naloxone took place in Hemel Hempstead.