Fentanyl cases aren’t high in number locally, but the drug is now officially here. And with fentanyl’s presence locally coupled with opioid overdoses and deaths increasing both statewide and nationwide, the Emporia Police Department has announced it will soon have Narcan available in all its patrol vehicles.
Narcan is used to neutralize the overdose effects and can be a life-saver for overdose victims, but Police Sgt. Dominick Vortherms says this will also possibly help law enforcement if things go wrong.
Training got started last week, and Vortherms says most officers are now fully trained as of Thursday. Training will also be revisited annually.
2:20 pm Thursday: Narcan training, supplies coming to Emporia Police
Narcan training and supplies are coming to the Emporia Police Department.
Police Capt. Ray Mattas says rising national trends in deaths and exposure to illegal drugs like fentanyl — and the increasing presence of fentanyl in Emporia — is prompting Emporia Police to train all officers in the use of Narcan and to have supplies in all patrol vehicles. Narcan is used to neutralize the overdose effects and can be a life-saver for overdose victims.
Mattas credited Sgt. Dominick Vortherms for researching and organizing the training process. He says this comes after Emporia Police responded to nine confirmed overdose calls from illegal drugs over the past year, including two fentanyl cases along with four LSD cases, two meth cases, two heroin cases and one from prescription narcotics.
Statewide, there were nearly 400 overdose deaths in 2019. That went to almost 480 in 2020 and close to 340 just in the first half of last year. Nationally, fentanyl overdose deaths by themselves were nearly 80,000 last year, with more than half involving people ages 18-45.
