YORK COUNTY, Pa- York County Department of Probation Services and the York County District Attorney’s Office are pleased to announce that effective immediately, York County Probation Officers will be carrying naloxone during home visits.
Since April 1, 2015, when York County’s law enforcement agencies began to carry naloxone, over 150 lives have been saved thanks to their quick actions. “As members of law enforcement, it only makes sense,” said April Billet-Barclay, Director of Probation Services. “Our probation offices supervise over 13,500 juvenile and adult offenders each year; a significant number of whom struggle with the disease of addiction. It is essential for probation officers to have access to this tool in the fight against the disease of opiate addiction.”
“A countywide problem deserves a countywide approach, and that is exactly what we have done,” said District Attorney Tom Kearney. “Thanks to the Pennsylvania District Attorney’s Association and Capital BlueCross, we have been able to supply each one of our law enforcement agencies, now including school police and probation officers at no expense to the County of York.”
Naloxone works by blocking the opioid receptors in the brain and temporarily restores breathing in someone who has overdosed on heroin or prescription painkillers. Naloxone is easily administered by being sprayed into each nostril. The drug is not addictive and its only use is to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
