'Quick-thinking' Kettering cop saves life of man in cardiac arrest using overdose antidote
Quick-thinking by a Kettering police officer has saved the life of a man in cardiac arrest after he overdosed behind a town centre shop.
Neighbourhood cop - PC Jamie O’Sullivan - came across a man in cardiac arrest in Northall Street, Kettering, on Saturday afternoon (January 10) at about 3pm.
PC O’Sullivan worked with ambulance colleagues to deploy Naloxone – a nasal spray which serves as an emergency antidote for overdoses caused by heroin and other opiates or opioids.
In a video issued from a body-worn camera, emergency service personnel attend the man, who is ‘a known drug user’ and lying on a path ‘seizing’ with his ‘pupils dilated’.
The spray is handed to a paramedic, and with instructions from the police officer the antidote is administered. Within ten seconds, the man had come around and was later taken to hospital.
Detective Superintendent Steve Watkins, who leads the Naloxone project, said: “This is a fantastic example of why naloxone is such an important part of a police officer’s kit and why neighbourhood officers across the county have been trained to carry it.
“Naloxone saved this man’s life last Saturday and I would like to thank PC O’Sullivan for his quick-thinking in deploying it.
“Protecting people from harm is at the core of policing I am pleased that this initiative continues to help us do just that.”
Naloxone works by temporarily reversing the effects of the overdose by reversing the depression of the central nervous and respiratory systems – the main cause of death in opioid overdose. The antidote prevents the opioid from blocking the breathing centres of the brain which would cause suffocation, buying valuable time to keep the individual alive pending arrival of paramedics.