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Two Ridgeites survive drug ODs thanks to local cops

August 11, 2016 Helen Klein

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Thanks to cops from the 68^th Precinct, two Bay Ridgeites have survived heroin overdoses, and are now recovering at NYU Lutheran Medical Center.

Both rescues occurred during the overnight hours of Wednesday, August 10 through Thursday, August 11.

At 10:35 p.m., Police Officers Power and Boyle responded to a report of an unconscious 27-year-old man on 93^rd Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, according to the precinct’s commanding officer, Captain Joseph Hayward.

Recognizing that the man had overdosed on heroin, the duo administered Narcan, naloxone hydrochloride, an easy-to-use medication that can instantly reverse the effects of an opiate overdose, and stabilized him before he was brought to NYU Lutheran.

Just a couple of hours later, at 1:40 a.m. on Thursday, Police Officers Hudgens and Gaglione responded to a report of an unconscious and unresponsive 19-year-old woman at Third Avenue and 79^th Street. The officers administered Narcan, resulting in the woman exhibiting a pulse. She was then stabilized and transported to NYU Lutheran.

The officers “did a great job in terms of saving these two people’s lives,” noted Hayward.

NYPD officers have been supplied with Narcan for about two years, a response to the increase in heroin overdoses and deaths which has accompanied the rapidly rising number of people addicted to heroin and prescription painkillers. In the Bay Ridge area, several teens have died over the past few years after overdosing on the drugs, according to reports.