Officer Christine Cauthen and Chief Scott Stoller of the West Pelzer Police Department were recently recognized by South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster for their life-saving administrations of the overdose reversing medication, naloxone (Narcan) in several emergency situations.
The opioid epidemic is a confirmed public health emergency in the State of South Carolina, with overdose rates continually rising each year. In 2020, there were more than 1,700 confirmed drug overdose deaths, more than 80 percent of those involved opioids. The numbers continue to climb, with no end in sight.
Cauthen was trained in the administration of naloxone through the Law Enforcement Officers Naloxone (LEON) program, a statewide effort that makes naloxone available to officers throughout the state and trains them in how to recognize an opioid overdose and administer naloxone to assist the individual until EMS arrives.
Stoller, also a paramedic, is one of the original LEON team members, assisting in program development, as well as training thousands of officers throughout South Carolina.
As of this year, training has been conducted for over 14,000 law enforcement officers, and over 3,400 overdoses have been reversed by officers trained through the LEON program since its inception in 2016.
In observance of September as Recovery Month, Governor McMaster has presented a challenge coin to each law enforcement officer trained through the LEON program who has administered naloxone in an emergency situation, and a lapel pin to those officers who have provided five or more administrations.
The LEON program was created by the S.C. Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Service (DAODAS) and the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).
For more information, contact Chief Scott Stoller at (864) 947-6297 ext. 103.
