What started as an off-duty night out at a local establishment in Charles County for La Plata Police Department Captain Robert Bagley turned into a program to help “Save Some One”.
Earlier this year, Captain Bagley was off-duty at an establishment in Charles County when he observed a commotion and other patrons becoming frantic. Bagley made his way over to investigate and found a male patron of the establishment laying un-conscious on the floor, and not breathing.
Bagley, who is also a Maryland certified Emergency Medical Technician and Volunteer Firefighter in Charles County; began assessing the male patient and using information from other patrons determined that the patient had possibly overdosed on a controlled dangerous substance.
Bagley began performing CPR on the patient and inquired from employees of the establishment if they had any Narcan, which is also know by the generic name of Naloxone.
An employee of the establishment located a pouch containing two doses of Naloxone, however the expiration date had passed by four years. Bagley administered both doses and within a short time, the patient had regained a pulse and was breathing on his own. Emergency Medical Services eventually arrived on the scene and transported the patient to a local hospital where he made a full recovery.
Captain Bagley also serves on the Charles County Overdose Fatality Task Force and took his experience back to the next task force meeting. He proposed the idea of going to local businesses in the county and providing Naloxone in the event of a situation occurring that he had experienced.
Using the idea, Moreen Young – Overdose Response Program Coordinator from Charles County Health Department went to work and developed the “Save Some One” program. The program provides Charles County restaurants, bars, night clubs, hotels, stores and other businesses with a purple colored Overdose Emergency Kit.
Each box contains two doses of Naloxone, a CPR mask, gloves and other protective equipment. A second concept is a battery powered box and once turned on, gives electronic instructions on how to recognize an overdose patient and how to administer Naloxone.
These boxes are being distributed to organizations like the College of Southern Maryland and government buildings. A window sticker is also provided with each box and states, “Save Some NaloxOne – Naloxone Available Here”.
Since the inception of the program, Moreen Young and fellow Charles County Health Department employee Kelly Marquart have provided boxes to several businesses in the La Plata area and are actively working on providing the rest of Charles County the means to “Save Some One” from an opioid overdose.
