Drug donation to help Henderson police fight opioid overdoses

The Henderson Police Department is joining other police agencies in the valley in equipping officers with a drug that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

The Henderson City Council on Tuesday approved a donation of naloxone from the Southern Nevada Health District. The drug reverses the effects of opioid overdoses by blocking receptors in the brain.

“I think it’s the most important tool in addressing the opioid overdose epidemic,” health district epidemiologist Brandon Delise said Monday. Delise is helping lead the program to distribute doses of naloxone to first responders and community agencies.

Henderson police received 200 naloxone kits that include bags, gloves, masks and a dose of the drug, along with another 96 doses, Henderson police spokesman Rod Pena said this week. All the department’s patrol officers will receive training in administering the drug by Friday, he said.

The donation is valued at nearly $12,000, according to the city.

When the police department’s supply is low, the department can receive more kits for free, according to the health district.

According to state data, there were 12.8 opioid-involved deaths per 100,000 Nevadans in 2016.

The health district has distributed about 1,500 doses of the drug since September, Delise said.

Officers in the Metropolitan Police Department’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas task force carry two doses of the drug, department spokesman Larry Hadfield said. The Nevada Highway Patrol announced in June that its troopers had started training in administering the drug. North Las Vegas officers do not carry the drug, a department spokesman said last week.

“It’s just another tool in the toolkit that can really make a difference,” Delise said.

Contact Blake Apgar at bapgar@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5298. Follow @blakeapgar on Twitter.