Today, the quick actions of Indiana State Police Trooper Anthony Repass and Wells County Sheriff Deputies may have saved the life of a man from rural Bluffton.
At approximately 3:28 p.m., Wells County Dispatch broadcast a physical fight at a residence in the 8700 block of south State Road 1. Repass and the Deputies responded to the call and arrived approximately five minutes later. They identified 26 year old Josh L. Miller, who they had just learned was wanted moments before they arrived, inside of the residence. Miller was taken into custody and as he was being walked though the house, his legs began to shake and he started to collapse. He was helped to the floor by Repass and Deputy Jeremy Heckel.
Miller then went into a convulsion as officers removed the handcuffs and moved furniture out of his way. When the convulsion stopped, Miller was able to communicate to Repass that he had recently taken heroin, before slipping in and out of consciousness. When Miller became unresponsive, Repass put recent training to use and administered a nasal spray dose of Narcan (Naloxone). The lifesaving drug revived Miller, who started breathing and became more alert and active. Miller was transported to a Bluffton hospital for further treatment.
Narcan is a medicine that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an overdose. After a dose of Narcan, a person who has overdosed on opioids should begin to breathe more normally and become easier to awaken.
Trooper Repass received training and was issued his Narcan kit in just the last three to four weeks.
