Loyola Medicine, Cook County Train 30 Police Departments on Using Narcan to Combat Opioid Crisis
June 10, 2024
Categories: Emergency Medicine & Trauma
Loyola University Medical Center in conjunction with Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is excited to announce the Law Enforcement Narcan® Program which will equip more than 1,900 officers from 30 suburban Cook County police departments, Cook County Sheriff’s Department and Cook County Forest Preserve Police to administer Narcan®when they encounter someone overdosing from opioids.
Narcan® counteracts the life-threatening effects of opioid overdose.
“Opioids are a public health scourge that afflict residents throughout our communities and that we must confront,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “Putting an antidote in the hands of our first responders and training them how to properly use it will save countless lives.”
In Cook County, there were more than 1,000 opioid deaths in 2017. The Cook County Health & Hospitals System saw more than 5,000 opioid-related emergency department visits in 2016, up from 1,000 visits in 2006.
Loyola Medicine’s Mark Cichon, DO, chair of emergency medicine and director of emergency medical services, said the train-the-trainer Law Enforcement Narcan® Program (LENP) is one of the first in the state to have direct medical oversight.
“It is vitally important that our police officers know how to recognize someone suffering an opioid overdose and act quickly to safely administer the overdose reversal drug,” Dr. Cichon said. “This program will create a standard of care and a consistency from one police department to the next so we can all tackle this epidemic together.”
Three training sessions have already been conducted. Officers with the Bellwood Police Department put their training to use within days.
“When minutes make the difference, it means the world to us to have this ability to save lives,” said Bellwood Acting Police Chief Jiminez Allen.
About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.
Established in 1961, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital is a 247-licensed-bed community hospital in Melrose Park that includes the Judd A. Weinberg Emergency Department, the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care, Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center, acute rehabilitation, a transitional care center, childcare center and fitness center. Founded in 1919, MacNeal Hospital is a 374-licensed-bed teaching hospital in Berwyn with advanced medical, surgical and psychiatric services and a 68-bed behavioral health program.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).