Southampton Cop Keith Phillips Saves Overdose Victim with Narcan

Southampton Town Police Department’s officer Keith Phillips saved the life of a man having an overdose Saturday using Narcan, a medication that counters the effects of opioids.

A 911 caller reported a male, who seemed to not be breathing, lying in the road near the County Center in Riverside. Both Southampton Town police and the Flanders/Northampton Volunteer Ambulance were dispatched. The police arrived first, and Phillips noticed that the unconscious 39-year-old man was turning blue and experiencing agonal respirations—gasps so shallow they can’t sustain life.

According to police, these signs, as well as the man’s pin-point pupils, meant the subject was experiencing an opiate overdose, such as heroin. Phillips, a New York State–certified Emergency Medical Technician-Critical Care, administered Narcan, also known as naloxone, via the man’s nasal passage. Within seconds his breathing improved, and only minutes later he was conscious and talking. Flanders/Northampton Volunteer Ambulance personnel arrived a short time later and took the patient into their care, transporting him to the Peconic Bay Medical Center for further treatment.

Phillips’ aid could have saved the subject’s life, or at the very least prevented serious brain damage from occurring, police said. More than 60 Southampton Town Police officers are trained to use and carry Narcan for suspected opiate overdoses.