Netcong police log first overdose save with NARCAN

Netcong police logged their first NARCAN save, reviving a man suspected of overdosing on heroin at the Kingtown Motel, Chief James Blesson said Monday.

Netcong Patrolman Keith Flaherty was on routine patrol around 12:50 a.m. Saturday when he learned that Roxbury Police had been dispatched for a suspected heroin overdose by a man in a room at the motel on Route 46, which is right near the Netcong border.

Flaherty encountered multiple Roxbury officers in the process of trying to revive an unconscious individual, later identified as Thomas Morrison, 49, of Netcong.  Flaherty gave Morrison a dose of Naloxone, widely known as NARCAN, into each nasal passage and Morrison's condition began to improve within two minutes, Blesson said.

Morrison was transported to St. Clare's Hospital in Denville by paramedics from the hospital.  All Netcong officers were trained in the use and administration of NARCAN in October 2014 but Halloween morning represented the first time a borough officer administered it, Blesson said.

"It was nice to save the guy, obviously," Blesson said.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.