DeKalb County Plans Expanded Training on Overdose Antidote

DEKALB, Ill. (AP) — DeKalb County officials say training for family members and nonprofit groups will be the next step toward preventing heroin and prescription painkiller overdoses with a life-saving antidote.

The Daily Chronicle reports the Narcan Overdose Prevention Program has trained most local law enforcement officers since it started in 2014.

Officers are trained to administer naloxone, which can revive victims of overdose. The drug is also known by its brand name Narcan and can be injected or used as a nasal spray.

County Board Chairman Mark Pietrowski says officers at Northern Illinois University and in Sandwich, Illinois have used the drug to save two lives.

He says the next phase is training for families of addicts and groups that encounter drug overdoses.