Northville Township officer saves overdosing man on first day using Narcan

Victim needed 2 doses of Narcan

PLYMOUTH, Mich. – A 44-year-old Plymouth man is alive because of the actions of a new Northville Township police officer.

The officer is new to the force and was recently issued Narcan to take with him on patrol. Narcan is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Officer Tony Dang saw the box of Narcan his department issued him on his way out on patrol last Friday.

"I looked at the mailbox and said, 'I should probably grab this,'" Dang said.

That's when a call came in from a mobile home at the corner of 6 Mile and Haggerty roads.

The Plymouth Township man wasn't breathing and did not have a pulse. Dang and his partner, Justin Norlock, rushed to help.

"I kind of looked at Officer Dang and said, 'I hope you grabbed it,' and he said, 'Oh, I got it!,'" Norlock said.

Dang gave the man one dose of Narcan.

"He takes one big breath," Dang said. "You can see his eyes widened up."

The man was still unresponsive, so Dang gave him a second dose of Narcan. The man came right back.

"Having this, what better time for it than now," Dang said.

"You look at each other and say, 'I am really glad  you had it with you,' glad we talked about this right before," Norlock said.


About the Authors

Local 4 Defender Shawn Ley is an Emmy award-winning journalist who has been with Local 4 News for more than a decade.

Kayla is a Web Producer for ClickOnDetroit. Before she joined the team in 2018 she worked at WILX in Lansing as a digital producer.

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