L.A. County sheriff’s deputies in Lynwood help save men from fentanyl overdoses
The men were bleeding from their noses, foaming from their mouths and barely breathing. To the Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies who responded to the emergency call at a Lynwood home Friday, the four appeared to be suffering from an opioid overdose.
The deputies began administering naloxone, a medicine that can reverse opioid overdoses, sheriff’s officials said in a statement. Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics then transported the men to hospitals, where they were listed in stable condition.
Detectives investigating the case said the men had ingested fentanyl, a potent opioid responsible for thousands of deaths nationwide.
The incident in Lynwood occurred nearly a week after police officers in a Northern California town used naloxone to treat about a dozen people suffering from an overdose of heroin or some other opioid. Only one person died in that incident.
At least one of the deputies who responded to the 911 call in Lynwood would go on to save a 36-year-old man from a similar overdose the next day, sheriff’s officials said.
The spread of naloxone, often referred to by its brand name Narcan, is part of a push to equip as many people as possible with the medicine, including law enforcement agencies.
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