When considering that they may be the first emergency services personnel to arrive at an urgent situation, town police are now equipped with an expanded set of medical tools to aid people in dire cases, such as narcotic overdoses.

At a February 2 session, Police Commission members approved a policy covering the police use of naloxone, a prescription drug sold under the brand name Narcan, among other brands, to revive people who are experiencing narcotic overdoses.

Police will be carrying doses of Narcan to be sprayed into the nostrils of overdose victims to treat and reduce the injury rate and fatality rate from opiate/opioid overdoses.

Police who give the antidote to victims must be certified as emergency medical responders (EMRs), or as emergency medical technicians (EMTs). The police department has 32 members certified as EMRs and two members certified as EMTs.

Narcan is used to reverse the central nervous system depression and respiratory depression caused by a narcotic overdose. Such narcotics include heroin, Demerol, methadone, hydrocodone, Vicodin, oxycodone, Oxycontin, Percocet, morphine, Kadian, Avinza, codeine, tramadol, and fentanyl.

Police will be carrying Narcan and three other new medical items, among many others, while traveling on patrol, Lieutenant Christopher Vanghele, the police department's operations commander, said February 8.

The three other items are a tourniquet, which is used to control blood circulation to an extremity; "Quik Clot," a gauze bandage coated with a chemical that causes rapid blood clotting to stop the bleeding from a serious wound; and an emergency trauma dressing, or heavy-duty bandage, used to stabilize a serious wound.

Police will be carrying new first-aid bags, which are bright blue, Lt Vanghele said.

"It was time to revitalize our approach to medical" situations, he said of the upgraded medical supplies and the training required to use those supplies.

Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps (NVAC) members Liz Cain and Megan Posey provided free medical training to some police in the use of the new medical supplies, the lieutenant said.

The new first-aid bags contain items such as a manual resuscitator pump, an instant cold pack, devices to open up constricted airways, bandages, splints, a burn treatment pad, and saline solution, among others.

Police will have available to them the first-aid tools needed to do their job to the best of their ability, the lieutenant said.

While NVAC members reach the scene of medical emergencies quickly, sometimes police arrive first, Lt Vanghele noted. Thus, having an expanded array of first-aid supplies will allow police to provide immediate first aid when they are first to the scene of emergencies, he said.

While police respond to a majority of the medical emergency calls received by the town, police will not replace ambulance staffers in an emergency medical role, Lt Vanghele said..

Police respond to calls involving drug overdoses, industrial accidents, unconscious people, motor vehicle accidents, suicides/homicides, crisis intervention, and various other life-threatening situations, Lt Vanghele explained.