SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) _ Police officers in South Bend are learning how to administer a drug that can reverse the effects of heroin and prescription painkiller overdoses.
On Monday, training was held for a group of officers at the South Bend Police Department. The officers received a package of naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote, and learned how to administer the aerosol spray nasally.
The South Bend Tribune reports that the move comes amid record numbers of overdose deaths nationwide. While announcing plans to form a statewide task force on drug abuse, Gov. Mike Pence said on Tuesday that overdose deaths in Indiana have increase by 500 percent from 1999 to 2009.
St. Joseph County Coroner Randy Magdalinski says there have been at least 16 overdose deaths in the county so far this year.
