Leveraging Body-Worn Camera Footage to Better Understand Opioid Overdoses and the Impact of Police-Administered Naloxone.

Abstract

<b>Objectives.</b> To investigate what transpires at opioid overdoses where police administer naloxone and to identify the frequency with which concerns about police-administered naloxone are observed. <b>Methods.</b> We reviewed body-worn camera (BWC) footage of all incidents where a Tempe, Arizona police officer administered naloxone or was present when the Tempe Fire Medical Rescue (TFMR) administered it, from February 3, 2020 to May 7, 2021 (n = 168). We devised a detailed coding instrument and employed univariate and bivariate analysis to examine the frequency of concerns regarding police-administered naloxone. <b>Results.</b> Police arrived on scene before the TFMR in 73.7% of cases. In 88.6% of calls the individual was unconscious when police arrived, but 94.6% survived the overdose. The primary concerns about police-administered naloxone were rarely observed. There were no cases of improper naloxone administration or accidental opioid exposure to an officer. Aggression toward police from an overdose survivor rarely occurred (3.6%), and arrests of survivors (3.6%) and others on scene (1.2%) were infrequent. <b>Conclusions.</b> BWC footage provides a unique window into opioid overdoses. In Tempe, the concerns over police-administered naloxone are overstated. If results are similar elsewhere, those concerns are barriers that must be removed. (<i>Am J Public Health</i>. 2022;112(9):1326-1332. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.306918).