By Peter Hillen, Elizabeth Speakman, Nadine Dougall, Inga Heyman, Jennifer Murray, Michelle Jamieson, Elizabeth Aston, Andrew McAuley  

This report describes the findings of an independent evaluation of a Police Scotland test of change (pilot) of the carriage and administration of intranasal naloxone as an emergency first aid measure to persons suspected of experiencing an opioid overdose. The pilot was conducted between March and October 2021 in three test areas in Scotland: Falkirk, Dundee City and Glasgow East, and subsequently extended to include Caithness, Falkirk and Glasgow custody and community police officers in Stirling. Research aims and objectives The evaluation focused on the implementation and processes of the pilot to allow elements of learning and best practice to be identified and to inform any potential future national implementation of naloxone carriage/administration within Police Scotland. The evaluation assessed: • Police officer attitudes towards drug use and people who use drugs; • Police officer experiences of witnessing and responding to overdose; • Police officer understanding and awareness of drug overdose incidents and naloxone as a first aid intervention; • Effectiveness of naloxone training (considering knowledge/skills of officers both before and after training); • Experience of naloxone carriage/administration by officers; • Barriers/facilitators (actual or perceived) impacting on police carriage/administration of naloxone; • Perceptions from local communities, including recovery communities, people who use drugs, their families and/or relevant support services.   

Edinburgh; Napier University ,2022. 98p.