LOCKPORT, N.Y. — Niagara County Sheriff's Office deputies have the duty of protecting lives on road patrol. And this summer they have also been using a certain life-saving device which can be very expensive for some people who need them.
2 On Your Side learned how EpiPens kept some county residents alive.
Niagara County Sheriff Michael Filicetti says it started with a question from the public.
"I had a resident come up to me and say - you guys carry Narcan which is a good thing and you save lives with that. Why don't you carry EpiPens? And the first thing that everybody I think realizes is we get Narcan for free. EpiPens - there's a cost. But I thought about it and I said you know we really should carry these. Often times we're there first - ahead of EMS."
"We carry first aid kits in all our patrol cars. Any ED tourniquets and first aid gear are in there. And in addition to Narcan - this was a natural thing to do. If we can help save a life it's worth the investment," Filicetti says.
So after county lawmakers okayed a $12,000 expenditure request and deputies were trained in their use and allergic shock symptoms, epinephrine injectors were added in June to their patrol cars' first aid kits
And this program really appears to be worth it.
There have been five such calls so far this summer. One was for an allergic reaction to eye drops medication but otherwise.
"Four of the five calls we had were bee stings. And yeah - it's scary. You know I can tell you when I read the report and I was briefed on what had taken place. You know some of these individuals were in a tough medical condition. A lot of people are just - they're in respiratory distress. Breathing difficulties. Sometimes you collapse and go unconscious. So in order to get help there and have the right tools - the right medical equipment to do it - minutes matter."
While some people with allergies know they must have them for an emergency, EpiPens are expensive. They can run over $600 for a two pack and they expire.
So the sheriff made this decision.
"Any time a pilot project shows that it can save lives - which this has - we're gonna continue this. I'm gonna find a way to put this in my budget yearly."
In Albany, some lawmakers have pushed for other first responders around the state to carry epi-pens. It was approved last summer for state park forest rangers. Our calls to some other local and state police agencies to ask if they have them were not returned so far.