Within weeks of acquiring two new life-saving tools, Kendall County Sheriff’s Department deputies have put both into action, they said.
According to deputies, both the department’s newly-acquired Narcan and Automatic External Defibrillators carried by patrol deputies were used on Oct. 12 for the first time, and one life was saved because of it.
More Top Picks Best Noise Canceling Headphones For Kids
In late August, the department became the first law enforcement agency in Kendall County to equip patrol deputies with Intranasal Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan. Narcan is given to help reverse the effects of opioids such as heroin, methadone, and oxycodone. Deputies can administer the nasal spray to overdosing victims in order to stabilize them until paramedics arrive.
That tool came in helpful around 8:08 p.m. Oct. 12 when deputies were called to the first block of Hillside Road for reports of a man who was overdosed on drugs.
Deputies said that when they arrived, they found the man unresponsive and barely breathing. After identifying drugs as a possible cause of the man’s condition, deputies administered a dose of Narcan, which helped stabilize the man until paramedics arrived.
Within two minutes of being administered the dose, the man was awake, alert and breathing normally, deputies said. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment and is expected to recover.
“The deputies are out on patrol and sometimes respond quicker than (paramedics) just by being in the area. We felt equipping the deputies with some life-saving options for these overdose situations is good public safety practice,” Baird said in August when discussing the newly-acquired drug.
The Narcan is just one of two new tools deputies are using to try and save lives.
In September, deputies received a ComEd grant that equipped the department with several defibrillators. Deputies began carrying them on calls shortly afterward and have already put one to use, they said.
At about 2:56 a.m. on Oct. 12, deputies received a call about a person who was found unresponsive and not breathing in the 1000 block of Route 30. Deputies responded and used the defibrillator they were carrying, they said. They also began CPR until medics arrived. The person, however, did not survive, despite deputies attempts at revival, the department said in a release.
“The goal of any first responder is the preservation of life,” Baird said about the ComEd grant. “Often times the police are first on the scene, and having the ability to intervene in a life or death situation quickly will benefit Kendall County residents, and will save lives.”