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Emergency personnel in Asbury Park will soon carry a lifesaving drug that has the power to reverse the effects of opiate overdoses.

Asbury Park Police Chief Mark Kinmon just put in an order with the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office for 25 units of Narcan, he informed members of the Asbury Park City Council at a recent meeting, and police officers will be required to carry the drug on them after they are properly trained.

Narcan is the common name for the heroin overdose antidote Naloxone.

Training courses will be held in Freehold in the weeks ahead, Kinmon said, and select officers will return to their posts to train fellow officers once they have completed the training.

Use of Narcan has to be written into the Asbury Park Fire Department’s scope of practices before training can begin, according to Fire Chief Kevin Keddy.

Nearby Asbury Park doctor Steven Petrano is working on the protocols and Keddy anticipates training will start in May or June with Narcan “on the rigs for use by early summer,” he informed members of the City Council last week.

“It seems like we are heading in the right direction, so I’m happy about it,” said Councilman John Moor. “It has the ability to save lives. We were always for it, but we were waiting for it to be OK because of the glitch in the law.”

Governor Christie signed the New Jersey Overdose Prevention Act [OPA] in to law last year. The law provides immunity from civil and criminal prosecution to those who witness heroin overdoses, encouraging them to report when an overdose takes place, and gives greater access of Naloxone to non-medical personnel without fear of legal repercussion.

In late March, Christie signed a waiver that states emergency medical technicians who have been trained can administer drug. A waiver was required because EMT’s are generally not allowed to administer medication and OPA’s language did not specifically grant EMTs the power to do so.

Asbury Park officials had decided to wait until all of the legal culpability was lifted before requiring first responders carry the drug.

City resident Randy Thompson [shown at right] began to urge members city officialsto require emergency personnel to carry the life saving drug in February. Thompson works in the mental health and substance use advocacy field and is himself in long term recovery from substance abuse.

“The significance of Asbury Park First Responders carrying Naloxone/Narcan cannot be understated, however, it is only one piece of the solution. The City Council needs to pass an ordinance to actively promote awareness of the Overdose Prevention Act so that people know they can call for help without fear of prosecution,” Thompson said in an email correspondence with the Sun.

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