Cops use Narcan to save brothers suffering overdose at restaurant

A nasal spray is one of the ways that Narcan can be administered to someone who has overdosed on opioids. BO EMERSON / BEMERSON@AJC.COM

A nasal spray is one of the ways that Narcan can be administered to someone who has overdosed on opioids. BO EMERSON / BEMERSON@AJC.COM

Two brothers got another lease on life this week when Smyrna police saved them from overdosing at a fast food restaurant.

Four officers responded to Wendy’s at 4923 South Cobb Drive Wednesday where they found twin brothers unresponsive “as a result of an illegal drug overdose.”

Smyrna police spokesman Sgt. Louis Defense said one of the men was found in the restroom and the other was in the lobby. One of the brothers was not breathing while the other had shallow breaths, he added.

The officers, Esther Ruiz, Taylor Elliot, Robert Pfeiffer and Jake Prough, used their department-issued Narcan, an antidote used to temporarily reverse an overdose from opioids, to revive both men.

“The Smyrna Police Department believes had the officers not had the training or the Narcan packs available to them, the two subjects would have surely died,” the department said.

The Smyrna Police Department in October 2018 received a $6,000 donation from Yvette Williams of the Cobb Community Foundation to buy, train and equip its police officers with Narcan.

Defense said the department is “extremely grateful” for the foundation’s donation. He also said he hopes these officers’ actions will show the community that the department is “evolving our practices to do things to keep them safe.”

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