Riverside police and firefighters used an opioid antidote to save the life of a 52-year-old Oak Park man who had fallen unconscious and was having trouble breathing while riding in a car at the intersection of Harlem and Ogden avenues on April 21 at about 3:50 p.m.
Fire and police personnel responded to the MacNeal Professional Building parking lot, 3722 Harlem Ave., where the man’s 36-year-old girlfriend had driven when he started losing consciousness.
Doctors and nurses from the medical office ran outside as police and firefighters arrived. The first responding police officer administered a dose of Narcan, an opioid antidote, which temporarily revived him.
When he fell unconscious a second time, firefighters administered two more doses of Narcan, after which the man responded. North Riverside paramedics transported the man to MacNeal Hospital in Berwyn for treatment.
Police reported recovering a small bag of heroin, needles and other paraphernalia used to ingest heroin. Additional drug charges may be brought at a later date.
The victim’s girlfriend was arrested by Riverside police when officers found her to have a pair of outstanding warrants, one for retail theft out of DuPage County and a traffic warrant issued by the Cook County Sheriff’s Department.
It’s the second time in the past month that Riverside police have administered Narcan to a patient overdosing on opioids. A 60-year-old Oak Brook man overdosed on heroin while driving down East Burlington Street in downtown Riverside on March 29.
The cost of the police Narcan kits was funded by the Riverside Junior Women’s Charity.
