All police in Scotland to carry lifesaving Naloxone overdose spray
The drug was used 51 times in a trial across Scotland
Police Scotland will become the first force in the UK to issue all of its officers with the anti-overdose drug Naloxone following the success of a pilot project across the country where the medication was used dozens of times.
Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said the rollout of the spray – which counters the effects of drugs such as heroin - is the "right thing to do”.
All operational officers will now be equipped with Naloxone kits and trained in their use.
One constable taking part in the trial has reported it can have a "miraculous" effect soon after it is administered.
Spray was used over 50 times in 6-month trial
It comes after a study into Police Scotland's six-month trial of Naloxone found a majority of officers support a wider rollout.
The nasal spray was used 51 times during the trial between March and October last year and its use has continued since then, in a trial carried out in Glasgow, Dundee, Stirling, Falkirk and Caithness.
Mr Livingstone said: “What that pilot showed is that Naloxone can save lives. Over 60 people have been saved through the issue of Naloxone.
"It's safe and officers are comfortable using it. And our community supports officers using Naloxone."
However he said Naloxone will not fix Scotland's drugs deaths problem.
He said: "There needs to be other interventions, there needs to be support services for those who suffer drug addiction and their families.
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Naloxone move backed by university research
During the trial period, around 808 officers were trained in the use of Naloxone and 656 volunteered to carry the nasal spray.
The review of the trial period was carried out by a group of researchers at Edinburgh Napier University.
Professor Nadine Dougall, one of the team’s co-investigators, said: “Our evaluation has shown that there is significant potential benefit in training and equipping police officers with naloxone nasal spray as part of emergency first aid until ambulance support arrives.
“Many police officers told us they are often the first to attend people who have overdosed, and they greatly valued the potential to save lives in this way. People with personal experience of overdose also agreed naloxone should be carried by police officers but were keen to stress that naloxone was only a part of a solution to address drug-related deaths.”
"Miraculous" effects
PC Ross Hunter, who is based in Dundee, was one of the officers who used Naloxone during the trial period.
When he was called to incidents involving suspected drug overdoses, he saw people regain consciousness quickly after using the nasal spray.
Pc Hunter said: "I almost can't explain it, it's fairly miraculous to be honest.
"They're going from the worst moment in their life - a critical moment for their health - and within a few minutes at most they're up and speaking."
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