The Clinton Police Department has a new weapon in the fight against opioid drug overdoses. All 27 sworn officers are now equipped with naloxone kits and have been trained to use them.

Naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan, is an opioid antagonist—a drug that blocks and instantly reverses the suffocating effects of heroin and opioids by counteracting the life-threatening slowdown of a person’s breathing and central nervous system. Opioids include the prescription painkillers OxyContin, fentanyl, methadone, and Vicodin, as well as street drugs such as heroin.

Naloxone comes in needle and nasal spray forms and is relatively simple to administer. Nasal atomizers, with which Clinton police are equipped, are less expensive than syringes but equally effective, according to Connecticut State Police Master Sgt. Marc Gelven, a state-certified instructor in overdose reversal. Gelven has conducted all of the training sessions for the Clinton Police Department on his own time, for no additional pay. Training includes recognizing the signs and symptoms of an overdose and effectively administering the drug.

From Jan. 1, 2015 until now, Clinton police have responded to 18 reported overdoses, at least four related to heroin or cocaine specifically. Most were accidental and involved prescription medication; five were suicide attempts. Three of the overdoses were fatal.

Clinton’s overdose statistics are indicative of a larger trend. Dr. James Gill, the state’s chief medical examiner, reported that 208 people have died of opioid overdoses in Connecticut during the first three months of 2016 alone. In 110 of those cases, heroin was involved; fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is said to be 50 times stronger, was involved in 83 of those deaths. (Often victims are found with multiple drugs in their system.)

The Clinton Volunteer Fire Department is equipped with naloxone, but as Gelven pointed out, police officers are frequently first on the scene, before firefighters and emergency medical services personnel. When someone has overdosed, Gelven says, every minute matters.

In addition to Connecticut state troopers, all of whom carry naloxone, Clinton police now join a growing number of municipal law enforcement agencies—at least 21 throughout the state—that are fully equipped and trained in its use.

Naloxone is a non-addictive medication that works only if a person has opioids in his or his system. It has no effect in the absence of opioids and will not reverse an overdose resulting from non-opioid drugs, such as cocaine, benzodiazepines, or alcohol.

Clinton Police Chief Vince DeMaio says that because the Police Department’s budget was already set for the fiscal year, he sought funding for naloxone kits from the community.

“There was tremendous support for this right off the bat,” DeMaio said. “These are another tool in our arsenal, and they save lives.”

Thirty naloxone kits were paid for in full with private donations. The Lions Club contributed $1,300, which covered the cost of 30 kits, supplied at a discount by Clinton’s ShopRite Pharmacy. A $500 donation from Phillip Williams, president of Clinton-based grill and cooktop manufacturer Keyon International, paid for naloxone cases that are waterproof, crushproof, airtight, and fastened to carabiners, allowing officers to carry the kits with them at all times. Fundraising efforts from Partners in Community (PiC) will cover replacement kits, each of which has a two-year shelf life. Kits are single-use only.