Police trained to carry life-saving treatment in South Yorkshire

Big change: Officers will now be able to use Naloxone

POLICE in South Yorkshire Police will now be able to carry a life-saving medicine that buys time to save drug users who have overdosed on opioids.

Naloxone is a treatment that can temporarily reverse the impact of drugs like heroin and morphine as well as synthetic opioids, including methadone, fentanyl and Nitazenes.

It is already used by many police forces and now Naloxone will be carried by trained frontline officers and operational staff who agree to carry it.

Det Chief Insp Mark Oughton, South Yorkshire’s force lead for drugs markets, said:

"Having Naloxone available for our officers to administer really could be the difference between life and death.

"If someone has overdosed on opioids, Naloxone can rapidly reverse the effects of these harmful drugs.

“It buys crucial time for medical intervention by paramedics and hospital staff and can therefore potentially save someone's life if it is administered quickly.”

Newly released figures show drug-related deaths in England and Wales have reached record levels after rising by 11 per cent compared to the year before, according to the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

In 2023, there were 5,448 drug-related deaths in England and Wales – the highest number since records began in 1993.Over half of these deaths involved harmful opioids and that is why DCI Oughton believes there hasn't been a more pertinent time for Naloxone to be introduced in South Yorkshire.

"The effectiveness of Naloxone cannot be understated and if administered to someone who is experiencing an opioid overdose, it acts as an emergency antidote to reverse the effects,” he said.

"Within 15 minutes of being administered, a person's breathing can be restored to normal if it had slowed or stopped.

"Naloxone really is a life-saving drug and it will help to keep more people safe and reduce the number of tragic drug-related deaths across South Yorkshire."

A gradual rollout of Naloxone will now take place across South Yorkshire following partnership work involving all four of the county’s local authorities.

All police officers and operational staff must complete mandatory training before they will be allowed to carry it.