Heroin Overdose Drug Credited With Saving Third Life Since November in DuPage Co.

The life-saving efforts of the DuPage Narcan Program (DNP) are proved once again as a third life is saved from a heroin overdose by administering Narcan. 

On Tuesday night, May 13, Lemont police officers responded to an emergency call around 9:00 p.m. that brought them to the scene of the Heritage Quarries Recreation Area in Lemont. 

The victim was overdosing in an area of the park that was not accessible to ambulances. The officers that responded to the scene had received training through the DNP and were carrying Narcan. They used two doses of Narcan to save the life of the 31 year old male.

“These officers recently completed their DNP training on April 28 and it couldn’t have come at a better time” says Lemont Police Detective, Aras Jonikas, “Our job is to protect our residents and the training we received through the DNP and the Narcan we were issued is just another tool we can use to effectively do our job.” 

The DNP was created in response to DuPage County’s growing heroin epidemic, with the purpose of saving lives from overdoses. 

Since November, DuPage County law enforcement personnel have been attending training sessions through the DNP program to learn how to recognize people who are overdosing and how to administer Narcan, a non-addictive drug which can reverse a potentially fatal overdose. 

Currently, there are over 1600 DuPage County police officers trained and deployed with Narcan.