Apopka Police Department preparing for opioid crisis

The VOICE of Public Health

The Apopka Police Department is issuing medical kits and training officers to help save lives from increasingly common opioid overdoses.

From the Apopka Police Department Public Information Office

The municipal agency, which leads efforts to support the health and welfare of the community, received a Federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) grant issued by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to acquire Narcan, or Naloxone - a medication that counteracts the impacts of opioid overdoses. Each police officer is receiving one package of the inhalant medication and specialized training to recognize and treat overdose cases.

“There are a lot of paradigm shifts going on with law enforcement in the community,” said Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley. “Equipping officers with lifesaving equipment and training, including medications like Naloxone, not only enhances our ability to respond to help the community but supports the mission of the Apopka Fire Department and EMS as well.”

Drug overdose deaths - more specifically, opioid-involved deaths - continue to increase throughout the United States. Opioids often are prescription painkillers such as morphine, methadone, hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Heroin also is an illegal opioid. The majority of drug overdose deaths (more than six out of ten) involve an opioid. From 2012 to 2016, the Orange-Osceola Medical Examiner’s Office reported an increase from 98 to 189 opioid-related deaths. Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths across the country involving opioids (including prescription opioids and heroin) quadrupled. With the increase in prescription opioids and the law enforcement efforts making heroin more and more difficult to obtain, prescription abuse has become more prevalent over the last few years. Additionally, with synthetic narcotics becoming more powerful and available, (such as fentanyl), communities have seen an increase in abuse and overdoses. An estimated 91 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose.

Under the direction of Chief McKinley, Deputy Police Chief Randy Fernandez, who also is a state certified paramedic, created the policy and training program for Apopka’s police officers. “The Apopka Fire Department has great response times to emergencies, but police officers are in the community and often arrive at scenes before an ambulance’s arrival. Chief McKinley felt it was important to enhance the training and ability of the officers to effectively respond, when seconds count, during a medical emergency,” Fernandez said.

Chief McKinley is an advocate of the Naloxone program and thought it was a valuable project. With the grant program funded by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the police department can distribute the medication to all officers with no cost to the citizens of Apopka. Along with Apopka, law enforcement agencies, including the Orange County, Ocoee, Winter Park, Orlando, and many others within the local area all have instituted opioid overdose programs.