Idaho law enforcement agencies get overdose reversal kits

More law enforcement agencies in northern Idaho now have access to a medication that can reverse opiate overdoses.

The Bonner County Daily Bee reports the Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office and Newport Police Department will have access to naloxone, a nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opiate overdose and potentially save a life.

In recent years, heroin and opiate-related overdoses and deaths have increased nationwide. In response, Tri County Health, the Newport Police Department and Pend Oreille County Sheriff’s Office partnered in the effort to get access to the medication, also called Narcan.

Pend Oreille County Sheriff Alan Botzheim says he’s grateful to Tri-County Health for securing funding for the project through the University of Washington Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute Center for Opioid Overdose Education.