Philadelphia police to begin carrying Narcan to counteract overdoses

The city of Philadelphia plans to issue a potential life saver to police this year when officers begins carrying  doses of Narcan.

Narcan, a brand name of the drug naloxone, counteracts the effects of Heroin or opiate overdoses.

“We are going to deploy in the areas where we have the highest number of opiate overdoses initially,” said Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey. “Sometime early in the year is when we will be deploying Narcan for the officers.”

In the last year, more and more police and emergency responders have been equipped with the nasal spray, which has been credited with saving hundreds of lives.