Homeless encampment in Galloway Township.
GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP – During the course of the county’s annual survey of people who are homeless, Atlantic County Sheriff’s Officers and Galloway Township Police Friday, Jan. 27 performed lifesaving assistance to a man suffering from a drug overdose.
The Hope One and Hope Exists team was participating with Galloway Township Police in the Point In Time survey, a weeklong national count of people experiencing homelessness. The officers, who were surveying people living in tents in a wooded area of the township, arrived to discover a man suffering from an overdose.
Det. Matthew Worth helped Det. Sgt. Kiamos drag the man out of a tent made from a tarp. Hope One and Hope Exists Community Health Workers Lindsey Komar and Patrick Reece quickly jumped into action. Det. Dominic Fabrizio administered Narcan, a medication used to revive patients from an opioid overdose. Galloway Township EMS arrived on the scene, and Chief Chuck Yool administered oxygen. The man began to regain consciousness and was transported to the hospital for further treatment.
“On behalf of the Atlantic County Sheriff’s Office and the Hope Exists Foundation, I would like to commend the Galloway Township officers for their heroic actions in saving the man’s life. Our community is proud of our law enforcement and grateful for our uniformed officers and emergency services who knowingly put their lives on the line to protect others in the line of duty,” Atlantic County Sheriff Eric Scheffler said in a release.
If you or someone you know is in need of substance use services, please reach out to Sheriff Scheffler’s Hope One Unit at 609-909-7200.
