The Missouri State Highway Patrol and other state law enforcement officers are being trained on how to use an opioid overdose reversal medication.
Several troopers, park rangers and conservation agents gathered at MSHP General Headquarters on Aug. 30 for training on how to use Naloxone, also known as Narcan. Every trooper will carry this medication after they complete training on it.
Patrol superintendent Col. Sandra Karsten directed the patrol to prepare to carry and be able to use Narcan. This came after Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens signed Executive Order 17-19 in July which made the medication available over the counter.
The drug has been stored in ambulances for several years, but patrol will carry Narcan as a means to bridge the gap from when they arrive until a paramedic does.
The medication can be administered in a couple different ways but troopers are being trained on the nasal spray version, which works in 2-5 minutes on average.
According to MSHP, this is all a part of the Missouri Hope Project, which was conducted by Missouri’s Department of Mental Health. The project’s goal is “to reduce opioid overdose deaths in Missouri through expanded access to prevention, public awareness, assessment, referral to treatment, overdose education and naloxone for those at risk of experiencing or witnessing an overdose event.”
The troopers are trained on how to use the medication, as well as what symptoms to look for. Symptoms include slow breathing, discolored lips and nails, cold and clammy skin and tiny pinpoint pupils.
The patrol said Narcan spray is easy to administer and highly effective, and that in 2016 there were more than 900 deaths in the state that resulted from heroin overdoses.