A bad batch of heroin is making its way through Camden, New Jersey, and police there said officers saved five lives in three days in the city by administering Narcan to overdose victims, including three in less than 12 hours on Wednesday.
Two of the saves came less than a half-hour apart on Wednesday afternoon, according to a Camden County Police Department news release.
That afternoon, Officer Fernando Badillo, who was on quality-of-life patrol, was alerted by a resident just after 1 p.m. to an unconscious man on the ground at Royden and Williams streets in the Lanning Square neighborhood, police said. Badillo found the man, realized he was in the throes of an overdose and gave him Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of the narcotic. The victim, police said, regained consciousness before he was taken to Cooper University Hospital.
About 20 minutes later, police received another report of an overdose, this time at 7th and Sycamore streets, in the Bergen Square neighborhood. There, police said, Sgt. Angel Nieves found two women -- one of whom was unconscious -- who had overdosed on nearby Clover Street. Another officer gave the unconscious woman Narcan, and police said she began to respond to the drug before she was taken to Cooper.
Late Wednesday night, about 11:30 p.m., police said officers were called for another overdose -- the third in less than 12 hours -- in the same area, at 7th and Chestnut streets. There, Officer Ian Paulic found a man in an apartment stairwell unconscious and turning blue after overdosing on heroin. He gave the man Narcan, police said, and he was taken to Cooper for treatment.
Police in Camden also responded to overdoses on Monday and Tuesday within a few blocks of the later two incidents on Wednesday, according to the news release.
In one of the overdoses, a woman is facing a driving under the influence charge after officers found her passed out behind the wheel of a running car in the middle of 7th Street near Walnut about 6:40 p.m. Monday, officials said. The woman, identified by police as Victoria Bachman, 21, of Washington Township, was turning blue when police found her. Officer Michael Treadway gave her Narcan, and she regained consciousness and was taken to Cooper for treatment, police said. She was later arrested and charged with DUI.
Camden County Police said since officers began using Narcan in May 2014, they have saved 83 people from fatal overdoses, including nine this month. The city has seen a spike of overdoses recently, police said, with 55 in the first 10 days of June, four of which were fatal.
Police have issued public-safety alerts about the apparent bad batch of heroin and are asking that anyone with information about drug distribution, sale or use in the city to call their tipline at 856-757-7042.
