Cops use drug overdose antidote to save man in Ronkonkoma

Using intranasal medication, police saved a 20-year-old man who had overdosed on drugs Tuesday in Ronkonkoma, Suffolk County police said.

Responding to a 10:45 a.m. call to a residence on Magua Street, Fourth Precinct Officers Thomas Speciale and Jennifer Andriano found the man unresponsive and with a weak pulse, police said. The 911 caller had reported a man who was unconscious, "not breathing and possibly overdosing on heroin," police said.

Speciale administered a dose of intranasal Narcan to the man, and, Andriano, along with Lakeland Rescue personnel, helped with respirations, police said.

After the man regained consciousness, he was taken to St. Catherine of Siena Medical Center, Smithtown, according to police.

The Fourth, Sixth and Seventh precincts and Marine Bureau are participating in a state Department of Health pilot program that aims to put the drug overdose antidote in the hands of thousands of Suffolk County emergency medical technicians.