S moke S ignals
APRIL 1, 2017
17
Tribal police carrying weapon against opioid overdoses — Narcan
By Brent Merrill
Smoke Signals staff writer
Grand Ronde Tribal Police Depart-
ment officers will be carrying and
trained to use the anti-opioid drug
Narcan (Naloxone) while on the job.
Naloxone serum is a narcotic
blocker used to treat a patient
having a narcotic overdose. Chem-
ically, naloxone is a hydrochloride
salt that temporarily reverses the
effects of opioid medicines.
Naloxone was patented in 1961
and approved by the Food and Drug
Administration in 1971. It has been
used by emergency room physicians
for many years.
Narcan can reverse the effects
associated with the use of heroin,
oxycodone, morphine and fentanyl.
Narcan also can be used to treat
septic shock and certain respiration
disorders.
Narcan can be injected or admin-
istered through the nose. Narcan
nasal spray is a pre-filled, single
four milligram dose that has no
effect on someone not under the
influence of opioids.
"We’re here to save lives and we’re
here to make Grand Ronde a safer
place to live, and this is another
tool to help us out with that."
~ Tribal Police Chief Jake McKnight
Opioid overdoses slow or even
stop a person’s breathing. Nalox-
one can quickly restore a patient’s
breathing to normal.
“I’ve heard about it for years.
It’s been in the news,” Tribal Po-
lice Chief Jake McKnight said. “It
didn’t really hit my radar until I
heard that Yamhill County used
it twice on ODs and it saved lives
and that just brought it closer to
home. I realized it was something
we needed.”
McKnight said he chose to have
Tribal police officers carry the nasal
spray version of the drug.
“I felt like it was a safer way
of administering that medicine,”
McKnight said. “It’s a lot easier to
give to a patient. I felt a lot more
comfortable about that. It acts fast-
er and it’s just safer.”
McKnight tasked Officer James
Wolfer with being the lead officer
to learn about Narcan, its uses and
trainings that officers would need to
become proficient at using the drug.
“He was really enthused about
the whole system and how it works,
and he really wanted to get it out
to every officer,” McKnight said.
“I just chose to go ahead and have
him look into it. I think he’s really
excited about it. He got on it really
quick. He called all the people he
needed to call to get the policies and
procedures in place.”
McKnight said his department
mirrored the current policies and
procedures of the Independence
Police Department.
“I’ve known about it probably
for a year or two,” Wolfer said. “I
think when we started looking at
it I saw that some of the agencies
around here started having it so I
started talking to the chief and the
lieutenant (Tim Hernandez) about
doing it and they said I could go
ahead and gather information.”
Wolfer, who has been with the
Tribal Police Department since
May 2016, said he talked to officers
at the Dallas and Independence
police departments about their use
of Narcan and shared that with
McKnight and Hernandez.
Wolfer, who previously was a
Tribal police officer for the Confed-
erated Tribes of the Warm Springs
Reservation and graduated from
the University of Cincinnati with
a degree in criminal justice, said
his experiences on the job led him
to believe it would be a good idea
and another tool to save lives if they
also carried the drug.
“I’ve been to a lot of cases where
drugs are involved and we some-
times have to go help medics with
things like overdoses or sometimes
we are the first ones there and I just
really thought with how prevalent
any kind of opioid substance is both
prescription and substance abuse – I
really thought this will save lives,”
Wolfer said. “To have us be there
and be able to potentially save one
more life I think it is totally worth it.
We have everyone trained up on it.”
McKnight said each dose costs
$60 and that the department will
acquire its kits through West Val-
ley Hospital. Each dose has a shelf
life of one year before it needs to be
rotated out.
McKnight said Tribal officers’
Oregon Health Authority training
will be reviewed and approved by
the team at Polk County Behavioral
Health in Dallas.
“It’s a way to show the commu-
nity that we are thinking about
them even when we aren’t making
contact,” McKnight said. “We’re
thinking of these different things
that will help the community. We
try to hit these goals so that we
have everything covered because
unfortunately someday somebody’s
going to have to use that and we
want to save that person’s life.
These are all people we care about.
We’re here to save lives and we’re
here to make Grand Ronde a safer
place to live, and this is another tool
to help us out with that.” n
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