Ron Lemire

Public Safety Officer

Backus Hospital

Backus Hospital Public Safety Officer Ron Lemire could tell immediately that something was wrong. Stationed near the entrance to the hospital’s emergency department, Lemire was called to assist Public Safety Officer Tim Furman, who was responding to a woman who came into the ED entrance frantically pleading for someone to help her friend who was unconscious in the front seat of her car. The officers rushed to the car to check on the passenger, who was unresponsive and barely breathing.

Arriving at the vehicle, Lemire and Furman observed the passenger sitting upright in the front seat with his shirt sleeves rolled up, showing purple and red sores on his forearms, a telltale sign of drug use. Recognizing the signs of an overdose, Lemire immediately deployed his Narcan, a life-saving medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids, and administered it to the individual. Several ED nurses soon arrived on the scene to assist, and Lemire proceeded to give the individual a second dose before they were brought into the ED, where they made a full recovery.

The incident marked the second time a member of the Hartford HealthCare public safety team has deployed Narcan since Backus officers first began carrying the medication back in May of 2024. Officers from Backus and Windham Hospitals were the first to pilot the Narcan program in the system. Today, all Hartford HealthCare public safety teams carry the medication.

“The primary role of the Hartford HealthCare Public Safety teams is to protect the patients and colleagues who visit our hospitals, outpatient facilities, and medical offices,” said Gen Boas, Director of Public Safety at both Backus and Windham Hospitals. “There’s no question that Officer Lemire’s quick thinking helped save this individual’s life.”

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