Curbing illegal opioids remains a target for law enforcement statewide, but in Goleta on Monday night, a man was saved from an overdose by a Sheriff’s deputy on patrol.
The unidentified man was lying on a sidewalk on the 5900 block of Hollister Avenue, in the heart of the city’s Old Town, when the deputy noticed him around 11:45 p.m. on November 28. Recognizing the overdose signs of a lack of response, slowed breathing, and a blue tinge to lips and fingernails, the deputy called for an ambulance and administered naloxone.
Since the Sheriff’s Office started its naloxone program in 2017, this is the 97th time a life has been saved by Sheriff’s deputies through the rapid use of the opioid-reversing medication. Administered as an inhalant, naloxone, also known by its brand name Narcan, became more widespread when California’s Department of Health Care Services made it available to substance abuse and homeless organizations, as well as first responders, schools, and libraries. The Santa Barbara City Police Department began using it in 2019, while Pacific Pride Foundation was the first to provide Narcan kits and train people in their use in 2016, through its syringe exchange program in collaboration with Santa Barbara County’s Behavioral Wellness program. It’s not a universal panacea, however, as the Sheriff’s Office records reflect 104 attempts to use it to revive a victim over the past six years.