Hoffman Estates police soon might carry overdose antidote

By the end of October, Hoffman Estates could be among the suburban communities whose police patrol officers are equipped with and trained to use a drug that can save the lives of opiate abusers.

Hoffman Estates Police Chief Ted Bos said the Kane County Health Department recently reached out to the village offering to both supply officers with naloxone, also known as Narcan, and train them to administer it.

Naloxone quickly counteracts the effects of such opioid drugs as heroin, oxycodone, morphine and methadone, Bos said, and patrol officers often arrive at a call sooner than paramedics.

Bos presented Kane County's free offer as well as his own department's research to the village board's public health and safety committee Monday night.

The committee unanimously recommended joining the Kane County program, and the village board will vote on it next Monday, Oct. 5.

"I think it's a great idea that we do this," Trustee Karen Mills said.

Mayor Bill McLeod said he had heard about the potential of Narcan at St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates a few months ago and had also come to believe its use by patrol officers could help give drug abusers the time they need to learn from their mistakes.

Trustee Gary Stanton, who is an attorney, said his initial qualms were resolved when he learned there was no liability for the village's police officers to administer Narcan.

In fact, Bos said his department's research did not discover any downside to its use among the departments already trained to do so.

"We look at the program as a way to save lives," he said.

Bos said Hoffman Estates has had a few heroin overdoses in the past couple years, though he did not have precise numbers available Monday.

Officers in neighboring Schaumburg began carrying Narcan at the start of 2015 through a DuPage County program and by February had saved a life.