Anti-overdose spray helps police save seven lives

Nalaxone has helped save seven lives across North Yorkshire in the past four months, police said

A nasal spray used to treat drug overdoses has helped save seven lives since it was rolled out by North Yorkshire Police in April.

The force said 140 of its officers had been trained to use naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of overdoses of opioids such as heroin.

About 300 more would soon be trained to administer the drug “which will ensure the spread of naloxone-trained officers will cover every part of the force area", it added.

North Yorkshire Police's harm reduction officer Danny Stannard said the instances where the spray had been used "demonstrate the real need for naloxone provision in North Yorkshire".

The effect of nalaxone when administered on a man and a woman in Scarborough on 29 June had been "dramatic", Mr Stannard added.

Officers had been unable to wake them after being called out on a welfare check after they were found asleep together outside a pub in the early hours.

“The man, who only moments earlier had been displaying the classic signs of someone in a potentially serious overdose situation, was quickly able to sit up and speak with officers while an ambulance was on the way," Mr Stannard said.

Opioid-related deaths – for example from heroin or powerful synthetic opioids like fentanyl - make up the biggest proportion of drug fatalities across the UK.

There is an average of 40 deaths a week across the country.

But administering the drug naloxone to someone who is overdosing can be life-saving, by easing potentially fatal breathing difficulties.

Craig Bosomworth, harm reduction strategic lead at North Yorkshire Horizons & Public Health, said "significant progress" had been made "to reduce drug-related harm" following the roll-out of the drug.