Four Marion County sheriff’s deputies have been credited with saving residents who have overdosed on drugs.
Earlier this month, Dep. Chris Rafferty responded to a residence in the 18700 block of NW 60th Ave. in Reddick in reference to an unresponsive man. When Rafferty arrived, he found the 28-year old man, who appeared to have overdosed, lying unconscious on the ground. Rafferty administered Narcan to the man and he quickly regained consciousness.
A short time later, paramedics from Marion County Fire Rescue arrived and the man was transported to a local hospital.
In a similar situation, Dep. Joshua Beccue found himself trying to help a 34-year-old Ocala woman who was believed to have overdosed on heroin. She was unresponsive when Beccue arrived at her residence, located in the 2600 block of NE 49th Court. Knowing that heroin most likely was involved, Beccue and paramedics from Marion County Fire Rescue administered Narcan to the woman, bringing her back to life. She was then transported to a local hospital for further treatment.
Meanwhile, two deputies are being lauded for saving a Villages resident’s son who apparently had overdosed on drugs in the Summerfield Wal-Mart parking lot.
Dep. Austin Coon and Dep. Joseph Diaz were called to the store for a possible drug overdose and when they arrived, they found an unresponsive 49-year-old man lying on the ground. The man had a pulse but his breathing was light, a sheriff’s office report states.
When questioned by Coon, the man’s 45-year-old girlfriend, who lives in Belleview, said she believed he had taken “opiates, possibly heroin.” A witness also told the deputies that the man had just snorted “a line of heroin” and then fell to the ground out of his golf cart, a sheriff’s office report states.
Coon quickly administered Narcan – a narcotic blocker used to temporarily reverse the effects of a drug overdose – to the man through his left nostril and he became more responsive and started to answer questions, the report says.
A short time later, paramedics from Marion County Fire Rescue 27 arrived and took over treatment of the Villager’s son, who has been arrested multiple times in the past for crimes ranging from DUI to burglary to grand theft to trashing a room at a Villages hotel. He was transported to The Villages Regional Hospital for further care, the report says.
Sheriff’s officials say responding to overdoses seems to have become the “new norm” for first responders. But they also say it doesn’t have to be that way. And they encourage anyone who is addicted to narcotics to seek help by calling The Centers hospital at (352) 291-5555 or The Vines Hospital at (866) 671-3130.
“Narcan has become another essential tool in our toolbox that we use to better the lives of our citizens,” said Marion County Sheriff Billy Woods. “I am proud of the quick and caring response taken by our deputies in these situations, and I would like to encourage anyone struggling with addiction to take their lives back from these poisons and seek help.”
The incident at the Summerfield Wal-Mart isn’t the first time Coon has been praised for life-saving actions. In October, he helped rescue a bald eagle on U.S. Hwy. 441 that apparently was sick from eating poisoned prey. That bird has since made a full recovery and in November was released back into the wild.