North Yorkshire Police officers are to begin carrying a life-saving nasal spray to tackle the effects of opioid overdose.
The force has joined 28 other UK police forces by rolling out the spray to response and neighbourhoods policing team officers in the initial phase. The scheme will be gradually expanded over a few years.
More than 250 frontline officers have volunteered to carry Naloxone.
Naloxone, which is safe to use, will be administered by officers via a nasal spray, which is easier to use than the injection-based variant.
Assistant chief constable Catherine Clarke said:
“Naloxone is the emergency antidote used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose. If administered within 15 minutes, Naloxone can restore normal breathing to a person if it has slowed or stopped.
“The main cause of premature death among people who use drugs in the UK is drug overdose. Many of the reported deaths could potentially have been avoided if Naloxone had been administered, which buys more time for medical intervention by ambulance and hospital teams. This really is a life saver.”
Someone who experienced this first hand is Harrogate woman Emma Plant.
Her life was saved by the kit after she accidentally overdosed and was revived with naloxone. Ms Plant was a heroin and cocaine addict for 10 years. She said:
“It just spiralled out of control, I actually used to go over quite a lot and my friends would call the ambulance.”
She experienced an overdose in a shared household. A man in the house found her unconscious and used the naloxone to revive her.
Ms Plant said:
“He used the Naloxone on me and saved my life. What he said to me is that I’d gone blue, I wasn’t breathing, I was gone, and I didn’t believe it. Now I think about it I think, wow, he actually saved my life. I could’ve not been here today if it wasn’t for him having that naloxone on him.”
Ms Plant is now clean and employed as a community engager with Red Rose Recovery in Harrogate. She is also part of the new Peer 2 Peer Naloxone Guardians who will be distributing more Naloxone in the community.
North Yorkshire Police’s harm reduction officer Danny Stannard delivers the first Naloxone training sessions to frontline officers.
As a member of the North Yorkshire Drug and Alcohol Partnership, the force says it has a part to play alongside emergency services and community partners in preserving life and reducing harm for substance users.
A consultation on a draft North Yorkshire substance use (drugs and alcohol) strategy ends on April 30, 2024.
Public health experts and national organisations including the National Police Chiefs’ Council, the College of Policing and the Independent Office of Police Complaints (IOPC), will support the police in using naloxone.
Click below to watch Ms Plant’s story:
Read more:
- Planning application clue reveals Toys R Us plans for Harrogate
- Black Dyke Band to give fundraising concert in Ripon
Police officer: ‘No knife crime problem in Ripon’
A senior officer, with responsibility for policing in Ripon, has reassured people the city does not have a major problem with gangs after a mother expressed concerns.
The mother, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Stray Ferret she and other parents feared Ripon was witnessing an increase in gangs, violence and intimidation.
There have also been recent incidents of vandalism, including the breaking of windows in the city centre and damage caused to the surface of a children’s playground in Grove Lane.
The mother said:
“The impression that I and other mothers I meet have is that there is a growing gang culture, which links into drug taking and dealing.
“It can be intimidating seeing groups of youths, some on bikes, congregating in parts of the city late at night and we are concerned that some might be carrying knives. We fear that somebody is going to be hurt and believe that something needs to be done.”
Inspector Steve Breen, (pictured above) who presented a report to Harrogate Borough Council in March on actions taken by North Yorkshire Police to tackle knife crime, said he wanted to assuage concerns and introduce a sense of proportion.
He told the Stray Ferret:
“We have essentially eradicated knife crime in Ripon through proactive use of stop and search tactics and intelligence-led disruption activity, leading to the imprisonment of some key individuals.”
Read more:
He added
“This problem existed within a small group of drug users and dealers across the district and did not impinge on innocent members of the public. There is no problem with knife crime in Ripon.”
Regarding the vandalism that temporarily closed the children’s playground, Insp Breen said:
“I reinforce the message that parents need to know where their children are, who they are with, and what they are up to.
“I urge the public to report issues they are concerned about via 101 or 999 in an emergency.”
“We are active in suppressing antisocial behaviour through home visits to problem individuals, the issuing of cease and desist letters, and working with schools, social workers, youth charities and other partners to engage and divert young people from nuisance activity.”