The union representing police officers in Scotland has accused Police Scotland of “exaggerating” and making “far-fetched” claims about lives saved from overdoses. The Scottish Police Federation has refused to acknowledge the claimed success of Naloxone, which the force insists has saved 100 Scots from overdose deaths.
The Federation has been against officers carrying Naloxone nasal sprays from the outset, laying down to a pilot programme that led to 4,000 kits being distributed to officers. The union has itself received flak for its response from campaigners, who believe all emergency personnel would be equipped to save a life if the chance arises.
Police Federation chairman David Hamilton said: “To suggest that 100 lives have been saved as a consequence of police carrying naloxone would imply that 100 would have been lost if they hadn’t. Given that neither we nor Police Scotland have been able to attribute a single UK death as a consequence of police not carrying naloxone, this claim is at best far fetched.
“Naloxone can be an important medical intervention in dealing with those who have overdosed but hyperbole like this is frankly unhelpful.”
He added: “Police Scotland needs to stop exaggerating, get on with seeking the legal protection officers who do administer it deserve and in the interim, stop forcing them to carry this drug as opposed to giving them the choice to do so.”
The Federation has claimed that officers who administer Naloxone could be open to legal action in the event of a person dying. Scotland’s Lord Advocate has not given a statutory indemnity to officers who carry the treatment.
The Record told yesterday how the force claims to have saved the lives of exactly 100 people after officers intervened in overdoses. The claim arises after the opiate reversal drug was used on 104 people, with 100 of them appearing to be on the brink of death after taking heroin.
Since then 4,000 nasal spray kits have been distributed in a pilot programme and it is planned that 12,500 officers will soon be trained in using them. The hundredth incident occurred less than a week before Christmas at a Glasgow hotel, where officers gave the drug to a lifeless woman.
The Scottish Drug Forum has coordinated much of the Naloxone provision in Scotland and claims police carrying the treatment is a vital part of the wider strategy in preventing overdose deaths in Scotland.
SDF CEO David Liddell said: “SDF Giving a person naloxone may save their lives or it may stop them being harmed by an overdose by, for example, preventing brain damage. We cannot know for sure that each administration saves lives but over the course of 100 appropriate administrations of naloxone harms will have been prevented and lives saved.”
Last year, Arfon Jones, the police commissioner for North Wales, slammed the Scottish Police Federation for opposing plans to issue all officers with Naloxone.
He said: “The first Peelian principle is to protect life and that is a core role for police officers. Administering Naloxone is no different from utilising the contents of a First Aid Box or using a defibrillator.”
Police Scotland said it had no comment to make on the Federation’s stance.
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