Communities across the South Coast will be better equipped to combat overdoses
Over a thousand local police officers are now carrying a lifesaving drug that prevents death by overdose.
Communities across Dorset will be better equipped to combat the increasing threat of dangerous synthetic drugs, following new advice issued by the Home Office.
In an effort make streets safer, the government has set out new recommendations to local authorities, police and public health organisations to better prepare against synthetic opioids.
This includes making sure police officers have the skills and confidence needed to carry and administer naloxone, a lifesaving drug to tackle illicit drug use.
Synthetic opioids are extremely dangerous substances and their presence in the UK illegal drugs market has risen over the past two years, during which time there have been over 450 drug-related deaths where synthetic opioids were present.
Although they are most commonly found in heroin, they are also becoming increasingly present in illicit painkillers and sedative pills.
Recommendations have been issued to local authorities, to ensure staff are able to help save lives and support those at risk of overdose.
This advice for local areas includes:
- Making 'out of hours' resources available to respond to incidents around the clock
- Sharing data between, police and health services
- Fast-tracked testing of seized drugs when synthetic opioids are suspected
- Improving identification and monitoring of all at-risk groups, not just opioid users
- Reviewing naloxone supplies in their area to make sure they are at sufficient capacity Naloxone is a medicine used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
These recommendations follow an exercise in November last year which saw local partners across health and policing, as well as national organisations, work together to respond to different scenarios relating to synthetic opioids.
Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “Synthetic drugs have no place on Britain’s streets, which is why we must do everything we can to tackle this evolving threat.
“This advice will help save lives
"By ensuring local authorities know how to respond to incidents more quickly and efficiently, as will the vital roll-out of naloxone across our police forces.
“Already there are hundreds of examples of police officers carrying this lifesaving medicine.”
Alongside this report, the government is also publishing national data on police use of naloxone for the first time.
Latest statistics show that 946 Dorset Police officers and 223 staff members are trained to use the medicine and can access it from their place of work.
Since July 2019, local police officers and staff have administered Naloxone 26 times, and on each occasion the patient survived and made a full recovery in hospital.
Assistant Chief Constable Mark Callaghan, of Dorset Police, said: “Our frontline officers have been using naloxone for several years now and it has proved vital on a number of occasions in providing potentially life-saving medical assistance to vulnerable individuals.
“It also supports our officers’ welfare if they are inadvertently exposed to drugs and require naloxone to counter the effect.
“We are often the first on scene at incidents involving a suspected drug overdose and having trained officers with access to naloxone means they can provide timely medical intervention at the scene.
“Our primary focus is always to ensure the safety of members of the public and this is just another way in which we are able to achieve this.”