WCBC

December 28th, 2014 by WCBC Radio

Late Friday evening, troopers from the Cumberland Barrack of Maryland State Police responded to the Bowling Street area in reference to a reported missing person. After interviewing the victim’s wife, it was learned her 33 year old husband left the residence and sent her a text message threatening to harm himself. Troopers began an exhaustive six hour search based on information provided by the victim’s wife. The victim continued to send text messages to his wife over this time period. Several cellular tracking pings were utilized and resulted in a narrowing of the search area. This information along with information provided by the victim’s wife allowed troopers to locate him in a parking lot of a Cumberland city business. When troopers arrived on the scene, they found the victim unconscious and unresponsive in the front seat of his vehicle. Due to the troopers training and experience, they were able to recognize the victim was suffering from an opioid overdose. Troopers administered the lifesaving drug Naloxone prior to the arrival of a Cumberland City Fire Department ambulance. A few minutes later the victim regained consciousness and began responding to questions. He was transported to WMRMC by CFD for treatment.

Naloxone (Narcan) is a medication which is used to reverse the effects of opioid overdose. Troopers assigned to the Cumberland Barrack were among the first troopers in the state trained to use Naloxone by the Allegany County Health Department last summer. The Cumberland barrack was part of a pilot program which was used as a model for other barracks. The Maryland State Police are training and equipping all troopers statewide with Naloxone who are assigned to field operations.