By Douglas Yu

In a recent press release from the city, all Somerville Police cruisers are now fully equipped with nasal Naloxone, also known as Narcan, a prescription medication to counteract heroin overdose.

According to the reports from local media, “Heroin overdoses are on the rise in Massachusetts, fueled by its relatively cheap price and high potency.” State police announced that 185 people died from suspected heroin overdoses in Massachusetts from November last year through February this year.

In March, Gov. Deval Patrick declared a public health emergency in Massachusetts due to the growing epidemic of opioid addiction and increasing rates of fatal overdoses. According to the press release, opiate overdose is one of the leading causes of accidental deaths in Massachusetts.

“Our policy in the use of Narcan is to provide the best possible pre-hospital care available to our residents,” Somerville Fire Chief, Kevin Kelleher wrote in an email to The Somerville Times. “The most important thing for people to remember is they must call 911 as soon as possible for the use of Narcan to be effective.”

Kelleher emphasized, “Do not waste time trying to remove or hide the fact that the person used drugs, reach out for the help as quickly as possible. Those few minutes could be the difference between life and death.”

Acting Chief of Police, Charles Femino said that Somerville Police Department had received training to administer Narcan and to provide necessary education to members of the neighborhood.

“Our officers have been instrumental in providing necessary support, education and training to members of the community, working with Somerville’s Trauma Response Network, the Cambridge Health Alliance and other important organizations,” Femino said in the press release.

Since January 1, 2014, there have been eight fatal and more than 20 non-fatal overdoses in the City of Somerville, according to the city’s report. With the new policy by the Somerville Police Department, all first responders in Somerville now carry Narcan kits.

“We are not preventing overdoses,” Chief Kelleher said. “We are trying to pull someone back from the edge and give them a chance to fight addiction.”

Kelleher also mentioned that nasal Narcan could not rescue a drugged person immediately; the person has to receive medical treatment after being injected with Narcan.

“[Drugged people] still have to go to the Emergency Room,” Kelleher said. “Nasal Narcan is not something that we give to people and say ‘now you go back to take a nap.’ We’ll give them treatment right away.”

On the other hand, according to Drug Policy, researchers found that the primary reason people do not call 911 in the event of a drug overdose is the fear of police involvement, arrest and prosecution.

In response to certain people’s fear of reaching out to the police, Chief Kelleher said, “We enforce respondents and firefighters, and we have no intentions of looking for criminal acts. We are a medical resource. The only thing I want to say is ‘do not waste time trying to hide evidence of an overdose.’”

“In some cases, I’m sure that they end up with criminal investigations. But for the Fire Department, we just try to save their lives,” Chief Kelleher said.