Two Monroe County Deputies in the right place, right time

SPENCERPORT, N.Y. (WHEC) — Amid the COVID pandemic, the ongoing opioid epidemic rages on. Two Monroe County deputies are recalling a moment where they had just seconds to save a life.

In this one instance in the Town of Sweden, deputies Brian Callaghan and Alexarae Tschorke were in the right place at the right time, and it was all caught on camera.

“He said he was there to do yard work and that he had shot up some sort of opioid and immediately passed out,” Deputy Brian Callaghan said.

Seeing the individual, the two had to act swiftly as they were racing against a potentially deadly overdose… and time.

"We determined that we were going to attempt NARCAN, as this may have been a possible opioid overdose," Deputy Callaghan continued.

Seconds after the deputies administered NARCAN, the young man regains consciousness. Unfortunately, this is something the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office says occurs every day.

“You have an empathetic response. At the end of the day, this is someone’s son, someone’s daughter, someone’s family member, friend. So we take that…we take that on every job we go on," Deputy Callaghan said.

Deputy Michael Favata, a member of the Monroe County Heroin Task Force says on average, NARCAN is administered twice a day throughout the county. In an effort to combat the epidemic, every shift, deputies carry a kit that contains NARCAN.

“Once you insert it in the nose, probably within a couple seconds, they’re starting to come to life,” Deputy Tschorke said.

Deputy Favata says the war on drugs continues, but here in Monroe County, the task force and community have been responsive, thanks in part to education.

"We go after drug dealers and charge them with criminally negligent homicide. We’ve been very successful at the DA’s office, but the education and outreach are where we’re actually making a huge difference. You look at some of these stores, are they are in the thousands of dollars a day just in thefts. If we can get that person who is out there committing crimes the help they need to get on track, it’s a win for everybody," Deputy Favata said.

According to MCSO, there have been 101 fatal opioid overdoses and 410 non-fatal overdoses. At this point last year, there were 104 fatal overdoses, so the task force says the numbers are fairly consistent.

"It comes down to supply and demand, so if we can curb the demand, the supply doesn’t matter," Deputy Favata said.