Police Scotland’s national rollout of the opioid reversal treatment, Naloxone, is reaching officers the length and breadth of the country.
Around 3,000 kits have been issued throughout Edinburgh, Highland and Islands, Dundee and Forth Valley divisions in recent weeks, where operational officers are now being trained and equipped.
The deliveries mark the completion of roll-outs to operational officers up to and including the rank of Inspector in both Highland & Islands and Forth Valley, while officers in Edinburgh will be supplied with kits for the first time.
The roll-out also continues in Tayside Division, which was one of the original test-bed areas, and will get underway imminently to officers in Ayrshire and North East Divisions.
Police Scotland successfully piloted the carriage and use of Naloxone by its officers last year as part of a public health approach to addressing the country’s drug death rates, which are the highest in Europe.
Officers in four areas (Falkirk, Grangemouth & Stirling; Dundee City; Glasgow East, Caithness, and local custody suites) began carrying the single use intra-nasal sprays in March 2021.
Since then it has been used in at least 95 incidents by officers, with positive outcomes on all but four occasions. In three of the four incidents, officers suspected the individual was already deceased, however, they administered Naloxone to give the casualty every possible chance at recovery. In the fourth instance the individual did not regain consciousness and later died in hospital.
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