A pair of good Samaritans revived a city firefighter with the anti-overdose drug Narcan after he was found unconscious from a suspected heroin overdose on Staten Island, officials said Saturday.
Firefighter Daris John, 31, was given a dose of the drug, which is used to prevent fatal opioid ODs, after a motorist trying to maneuver around John’s idling car near Hunter Ave. and Idlease Place in Midland Beach noticed the unconscious driver behind the wheel before 9 p.m. Friday, cops said.
The motorist went up to the car and knocked on the window, but John didn’t move, officials said.
A baggie of suspected heroin was found inside the car.
When the motorist and a nearby resident couldn’t revive John, they administered Narcan and began performing CPR as they called 911, officials said.
It wasn’t immediately disclosed if one of the good Samaritans had the life-saving drug or if it was in John’s car.
John regained consciousness and medics took him to Staten Island University North hospital for treatment.
Police charged John with drug possession and operating a motor vehicle impaired by drugs.
After getting checked out by a doctor, he was taken to Staten Island Criminal Court where a judge ordered him released without bail.
The FDNY has taken steps to suspend John, who has been employed by the department for three years and is currently assigned to Engine 158 in Staten Island.
A woman who answered the phone at John’s home declined to comment.
In August, the FDNY began leaving personal kits with Naloxone — the active drug in Narcan — with patients who have been revived with the drug.
The drug is also offered to overdose patients at the hospital and their homes.
The initiative is part of a citywide plan to equip and train overdose victims and their friends and family with the use of Naloxone as they battle their addiction.
Each year, the FDNY treats roughly 5,000 opioid overdoses with Naloxone.
City paramedics have been carrying and administering Naloxone for more than 40 years. In 2014, the New York State Department of Health created a special protocol for all first responders, including the NYPD, to carry Naloxone.
In 2017 1,487 people died of unintentional overdoses in the city — 62 more than the year before, according to the city Department of Health. It was estimated that four people died of a drug overdose each day in the city last year, officials said.
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