The DuPage Narcan Program (DNP), an initiative created to fight the alarming rate of opiate-overdose deaths with the drug Narcan, recently marked the 100th life saved by the program since its inception in 2014.
The use of Narcan prevented 32 deaths in 2014, followed by 61 in 2015 and seven so far this year.
“Reaching 100 saves in just two years shows that the DNP is making progress against the heroin epidemic in DuPage County,” DuPage County Coroner Dr. Richard Jorgensen said. “That is a credit to the officers on the street using Narcan and the partners supporting DNP.”
The DNP is a collaboartive effort between several DuPage County government agencies, including the Police Chiefs Association, Coroner’s Office, County Sheriff John Zaruba, County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and County Chairman Dan Cronin. The DuPage Health Department takes a lead role in the project. Over 2,500 first-responders (mostly police) across the county have been trained to provide the Narcan inhalant to individuals who have suffered an opiate overdose. The drug immediately begins to block the effects of opiates and counteract the overdose. In addition to time and effort from government officials, many private contributions have been made to help sustain the DNP.
“Saving lives is our most important impact,” Cronin said. “We all agreed that even saving one life would make this program a success. The benefits are priceless to the families of the loved ones who have been saved.”
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