The Pottsville Bureau of Police have released details on their use of Naloxone over the past 5 years.
Over the past several years, we've certainly seen a rise in overdoses in Schuylkill County, the state of Pennsylvania, and across the country.
The battle against drug addiction is ongoing and while it's not stopping people from overdosing, Naloxone has been saving lives for those that have needed it and could have potentially died.
Naloxone is a an FDA approved medication that can be administered via injection or nasal spray to someone overdosing that will rapidly reverse and block the effects of opioids.
Police officers, EMT's, and first responders carry and are trained to use naloxone.
Recently the Pottsville Bureau of Police released statistics on their use of the drug.
According to Chief Richard Wojciechowsky, during calendar year 2020 the Pottsville Bureau of Police utilized Naloxone to reverse 27 potentially fatal opiate overdose in the city.
Wojciechowsky also says that his department began using Naloxone in 2016. Since then Pottsville Police have had a total of 128 successful overdose reversals. Those statistics show that the city's police saved on average 25 lives per year.