Franklin Police Report on Expanded EpiPen Readiness

Pictured above is Officer Dave Ricci

[From Franklin Police Facebook Posting]

Over the last year, Franklin Police Officers have been carrying adult and child EpiPens (epinephrine) with their daily first aid equipment. To date, the Epipen program has been instrumental in helping those experiencing anaphylaxis. One call came recently where an individual was stung by a bee and did not know they were allergic to bees. They were experiencing anaphylactic shock and could not breathe. The EpiPen program was initiated by Officer David Ricci. 

Traditionally we have utilized our partners from the Franklin Fire Department for administering EpiPens. Dave is one of our department medical instructors and served in the United States Navy as a Navy Corpsman. Another officer brought it to Dave’s attention that we carry several items in our medical kit but not epipens. All officers are trained in administering EpiPens in our yearly in-service training. Dave realized, that if we’re trained and capable of saving someone’s life with a tool, why not have the tool ourselves? We interact with people who may not know they have allergies or those who might not be able to afford the medication. Dave found that very few police departments in the state carry EpiPens.

From there Dave got buy-in from the department and went to work. His proposal included: a description of the program; the resources to acquire the medication; the laws allowing us to carry and administer the medication; the benefits of carrying the medication; the risks of administering the medication; a list of our calls for service related to potential anaphylaxis; and a cost analysis to determine yearly expenditures. Dave obtained a memorandum of agreement from the Medical Advisor for police departments in the state and a controlled substance registration through the Department of Public Health. From there Chief Lynch signed off on the initiative and epipens were purchased for the department. On any given shift there are 6 EpiPens ready for use across our patrol division to help save a life.