To combat overdoses, Mountlake Terrace police expand naloxone access

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — Officers in Mountlake Terrace approached a man lying face down in a dark parking lot in October. They rolled him over to find him unconscious and struggling to breathe.

An officer knelt down and administered the opioid overdose-reversing nasal spray naloxone. He rubbed the man’s chest to help him fight the drug that was shutting down his central nervous system and respiratory functions.

At a City Council meeting in November, police officials showed a video of the encounter, recorded with the department’s new body-worn cameras. Without police intervention, it’s likely the man would have died, police Cmdr. Mike Haynes said at the meeting.

Now, in partnership with the state Department of Health, police in Mountlake Terrace can equip community members with the life-saving medication naloxone, also known as Narcan. In December, the department received about 50 doses to hand out while on patrol.

Last year, at least 300 people died from overdoses in Snohomish County, a 4.2% increase from 2022, according to the medical examiner’s office. Opioids caused 80% of those deaths, with 76% involving fentanyl. The synthetic opioid, about 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, killed at least 226 people across the county last year.

“Police aren’t the only ones who witness overdoses,” the city wrote in a press release. “People living with substance use disorder, and their friends and family members, now can receive naloxone to keep in case.”

Last year, Mountlake Terrace police saved at least three people from opioid overdoses, according to police records. But six people died in the city before they could get help, according to medical examiner records.

“That’s the tragedy of drugs in our community,” Haynes said.

Police have carried the medication for years, supplied through the county health department. In 2022, the state health department began the Overdose Education & Naloxone Distribution Program. The program supplies Narcan kits to organizations that can distribute the medication to the state’s most vulnerable.

“It’s an opportunity to save lives, which is what we’re all about here at the police department,” said Scott King, another Mountlake Terrace police commander.

King, who led the effort to get the extra supply, said an officer called him last week to share about saving someone’s life with Narcan. And officers in Mountlake Terrace continue to seize fentanyl pills “by the hundreds,” Haynes told council members in November.

The state’s naloxone distribution program has more than 800 spots available for partnerships, but few police departments apply, said John Doyle, spokesperson for the state health department.

Mountlake Terrace heard about the program from the Lynnwood Police Department. State Narcan donations also help supply the county’s Leave-Behind Program, where first responders leave kits with at-risk community members after they attend drug-related calls.

Now, every Mountlake Terrace police car has extra Narcan to distribute to those at risk for overdose as well as their friends and family members. And when doses run low, the department can apply for more as long as the state has a supply.

The Snohomish County Health Department provides community naloxone training. The next training is set for 6 p.m. March 5 at the Everett Public Library’s main campus, 2702 Hoyt Ave. Training requests are available at snohomishoverdoseprevention.com/forms.

Sydney Jackson: 425-339-3430; sydney.jackson@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @_sydneyajackson.