TIFTON — Members of the Tifton Police Department recently participated in training to use Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal drug, in preparation to carry it while on duty.

The training was sponsored by Oasis Recovery Community Organization, according to Vicky Bosse, an Oasis RCO certified recovery coach.

“Because it is a well known fact that we are in the midst of an opioid epidemic in Georgia, the management and staff at Oasis decided to be proactive about making sure that Narcan was readily available to every first responder in the Tiftarea,” Bosse said. “The idea to provide Narcan training to the Tifton Police Department and other first responders originated after Oasis RCO and interested community members were trained and supplied with free Narcan kits by the Georgia Overdose Prevention organization in April of this year.”

Dr. Pierluigi Mancini was brought in to teach the training.

He explained how naloxone works to reverse an overdose, how to use it and what to do to help save someone’s life. He also stressed that naloxone will not hurt anyone if they are not having an opioid overdose, but that if someone is overdosing from opioids, using naloxone to reverse it is a critical step towards saving a life.

“We know that during an opioid overdose, respiratory function is depressed, therefore the body and brain are deprived of oxygen,” Bosse said. “Minutes are a matter of life and death. The Narcan can now be administered as soon as the officer arrives on scene. It is our hope that the victim is saved and given the opportunity to choose a life of recovery.”

For more information contact Oasis RCO at 229-396-5900.