Police in New York's Suffolk County have saved eleven drug overdose victims since the beginning of A

(19 Oct 2012) HEADLINE:Could special nasal spray stop heroin overdoses?
CAPTION: Police in New York's Suffolk County have saved 15 drug overdose victims since the beginning of August using a special nasal spray. A local doctor hopes all officers will carry the device in their patrol cars by next year. (Oct. 19)
[LOCATION: Long Island, New York]
[SOURCE: AP]
[VO: inhaler, police, addict]
TERI KROLL CARRIES A DRUG OVERDOSE REVERSAL KIT WITH HER EVERYWHERE SHE GOES.
THAT'S BECAUSE SHE DIDN'T HAVE IT WHEN SHE NEEDED IT MOST: IN 2009.
WHEN HER SON TIMOTHY DIED FROM A HEROIN OVERDOSE IN HER HOME.
[SOT/Teri Kroll, Long Island]
"To live with that is unbearable. That I would never want anyone else to live with."
SIMILAR TO THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, THE NUMBER OF OVERDOSES HERE ON LONG ISLAND HAS BEEN STEADILY GROWING FOR YEARS.
DOCTOR SCOTT COYNE BELIEVES A SPECIAL NASAL SPRAY CAN REVERSE THE TREND.
[SOT/Dr. Scott Coyne, Suffolk County Police Department]
"The heroin problem is pervasive it's pervading all different socio-economic statuses, from the upper class, middle class, lower class, it's in all regions of the country."
UNDER A PILOT PROGRAM OVERSEEN BY COYNE, A HANDFUL OF POLICE OFFICERS HAVE BEEN CARRYING "INTRANASAL NARCAN ((pronounced with a hard A, like the word can))" SINCE THE BEGINNING OF AUGUST.
SINCE THEN, POLICE HAVE SAVED FIFTEEN PEOPLE.
OFFICER MICHAEL ALFIERI RECENTLY USED THE NASAL SPRAY WHILE ON PATROL.
[SOT/Michael Alfieri, Suffolk County Police Department]
"A male female jump out in front of my police car, flag me down, they said their friend was turning blue in the back of their car."
SO HE SPRAYED THE MEDICINE INTO HER NOSTRILS�IT ABSORBED INTO THE MEMBRANE OF HER NOSE.
[SOT/Michael Alfieri, Suffolk County Police Department]
"She opened her eyes and she started breathing on her own again. She regained her color and her heart rate rose and she was able to speak, and she didn't want to go to the hospital."
INTRANASAL NARCAN IS A TRADEMARKED TYPE OF THE MEDICATION NALOXONE (pronounced 'Nuh Lox Own)) .
FATAL OVERDOSES HAPPEN WHEN A DRUG LIKE HEROIN OR OXYCODONE SHUTS DOWN THE MECHANISM IN THE BRAIN STEM THAT CONTROLS BREATHING.
WITHIN MINUTES OF BEING ADMINISTERED, NALOXONE REMOVES THE OPIATE MOLECULES FROM THE BRAIN STEM.
THE PERSON STARTS BREATHING AGAIN AND WAKES UP.
DESPITE SOME HIGH PROFILE ARRESTS OF HEROIN DEALERS HERE, THE DRUG CONTINUES TO BE WIDELY AVAILABLE.
NATS: "Good morning, my name is Danielle. I am a heroin addict in recovery. I have about 18 months clean."
DANIELLE PINTO HAD A GOOD JOB AS A PROJECT MANAGER WHEN SHE GOT HOOKED ON PRESCRIPTION PAIN KILLERS�THAT LED TO HEROIN.
[SOT/Danielle Pinto, Former Heroin Addict]
"It brought me to some really horrible places. Things I'd never thought I'd have to do to get the next one."
PINTO WENT TO REHAB AND IS NOW A SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR.
COYNE IS HOPING THE NASAL SPRAY WILL GIVE OTHERS THE SAME CHANCE.
[SOT/Dr. Scott Coyne, Suffolk County Police Department]
"Society admits that there is a problem and this is a medical, a medical treatment, a medical remedy, for the problem that we have and hopefully that the people that we save, from this pilot program, will see the light, and go into rehabilitation and begging to turn their life around."
IN THE PAST, CRITICS HAVE SAID MAKING THIS TYPE OF MEDICATION AVAILABLE TO ADDICTS ENABLES THEM. BUT NO SUCH ARGUMENT HAS SPRUNG UP LONG ISLAND.
TERI KROLL DOESN'T LIKE TO THINK "WHAT IF" SHE HAD NARCAN WHEN SHE FOUND HER SON HAD OVERDOSED.

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