The Vermont State Police is ramping up an effort to train and equip all state troopers with Naloxone, a drug used to counteract overdoses of opiate-based drugs. State police brass met earlier in January with Dr. William Roberts, the Medical Director at Northwestern Comprehensive Pain Management, to learn about the drug.
In a press statement about the program, Col. Tom L'Esperance said the drug could help troopers save lives.
"As first responders on emergency incidents, troopers play a pivotal role in quickly reversing the life-threatening effects of an opioid overdose," he said in the release. "The use of Naloxone is one more step in the process of creating a community response to opiate abuse and misuse."
Naloxone, better known as Narcan, is at the center of another push by the Vermont Department of Health. Health Department officials launched a program late last year to distribute the drug to addicts and their family members in White River Junction and Burlington with the hope of saving lives in the vital minutes after an overdose. Officials plan to expand the program statewide in the future.
The Vermont State Police plan to have all troopers trained and equipped with Naoxone this spring.
