During the Coatesville city council meeting held on Monday evening, the Coatesville Police Department was recognized by the medical service organization, Good Fellowship, for the successful use of Naloxone to help save the lives of victims who have overdosed on opioids, writes Daily Local News’ Lucas Rodgers.

The Project Naloxone initiative was started last year when Good Fellowship partnered with the Chester County District Attorney’s Office, the Chester County Health Department, and the Chester County Department of Drug and Alcohol in order to help train first responders in the use of Naloxone medication.

The medicine, also known as Narcan, is administered when a person is suffering from an overdose of opioids such as pain killers or heroin, to help reverse the effects and hopefully save the patient’s life.

The project has already trained 670 police officers across the county, with over 200 Naloxone kits distributed to police departments.

The Director of Project Naloxone, Ethan Healey, presented Coatesville Police Chief, Jack Laufer, with a plaque to commend the department’s participation in the project.

“I am here tonight to recognize the men and women of the City of Coatesville Police Department for their support of Project Naloxone,” said Healey. “The City of Coatesville Police Department, under the leadership of Chief Laufer, is committed to serving and protecting the citizens of Coatesville.”

The recognition is well deserved, as Coatesville Police officers have already managed to save the lives of nine people who had overdosed since the start of the project, making it the highest number of saves in any Chester County municipality.

Healey went on to add that during the initial year of Project Naloxone, Chester County police officers successfully used Naloxone to save 35 lives.

“The opioid death tragedy has struck in every community,” said Healey. “It afflicts all ages, all races and all socioeconomic levels. Too many lives are being lost because of addiction. Too many families are forever faced with the impact of the loss of a loved one. These lives matter and all of us have an obligation to work together to save lives.”