Deputy Responding To Silent Alarm In Colfax Saves Life Of Man Who Was Overdosing
COLFAX (CBS13) – A deputy who was originally dispatched to investigate a silent burglary alarm in Colfax ended up saving the life of a person who was overdosing.
The Placer County Sheriff's Office says, back on the night of June 3, a deputy responded to a Colfax-area gas station and was flagged down by a woman near a parked car. The deputy realized that the situation was possibly a medical emergency, so he brought along his medical bag.
In the passenger seat of the car, the deputy found an unresponsive man; a needle was still in the man's hand.
Believing that the person had more than likely suffered an opiate overdose, the deputy pulled out some Narcan and used it on the man. The deputy then started doing chest compressions, getting to about 20 before he found a pulse.
Medics soon got to the scene, but the deputy continued to help by opening the man's airway and continuing CPR using a bag valve mask.
The man soon awoke, the sheriff's office says. He was taken to a nearby hospital and was later discharged.
"We commend the deputy for his quick thinking and efforts to revive the male who may have otherwise passed away," the sheriff's office said in a release. "We hope this incident served as a wake-up call for him."
First responders are being issued doses of Narcan as calls about opioid-related overdoses have increased in recent years.
According to the Naloxone Distribution Project, more than 1,000,000 units of Narcan has been given out – amounting to more than 57,000 overdose reversals.