The Dartmouth Police Department has announced that its officers will now be carrying the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan in their police cruisers.

The announcement comes after the department has spent the past several months certifying its officers to administer the drug, said Dartmouth Police Det. Kyle Costa. With every officer now certified, each squad car will now come stocked with two doses of the drug – a necessity because Costa said sometimes a single dose of Narcan is not enough to save a life.

Although ambulances that service Dartmouth already stock Narcan, Costa said the new change will better prepare Dartmouth officers to respond to an overdose situation, as he said officers sometimes arrive on scene before an ambulance.

“Those few seconds or minutes before an ambulance arrives can be life or death,” Costa said.

Costa said Dartmouth had been hit with one overdose a week last year, and this year is not going to be any better. Costa said he expects that number to stay the same or rise slightly by year’s end.