PanCare donates NARCAN to Panama City Police

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – Panama City Police have received a donation that they say will help them continue to fight the opioid crisis.

On Thursday morning, PanCare Health delivered 100 NARCAN kits to the department.

Narcan is an over-the-counter medication used to treat an opioid overdose.

Mark Smith, chief of the Panama City Police Department, said NARCAN has been deployed 24 times since the beginning of the year.

In addition, he said that there were 37 overdoses with three deaths between January and June 2023 and that there have been 35 overdoses and four deaths this year.

Officials said NARCAN will provide officers with the tools they need to rescue residents and each other.

“Officers can come into contact with it accidentally,” Smith said. “They can make a traffic stop that can lead to something. They can open a container and the next thing they know they came into contact with it and someone needs to administer it to them (NARCAN).”

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