Driving down the 3100 block of West Chicago Avenue Thursday, Officers Rico Rodriguez and Adam Gonzalez saw a man standing in the street, waving to get their attention.
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"He had begun giving CPR to an unconscious male on the floor," Rodriguez said during a press conference on the city's West Side Sunday.
The 12th District officers quickly suspected an overdose.
"When we first arrived, we could not find a pulse," Rodriguez said. "He was not breathing."
Officer Gonzalez took over with CPR, while Rodriguez grabbed an opioid-overdose antidote, a Narcan spray, to block the effects of heroin.
"One easy push and the entire dosage goes into the individual," Gonzalez said.
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The officers said within minutes, the man showed signs of improvement.
The officers have received training within the last year to handle such incidents. Before that, they would've needed to wait for emergency medical technicians before Narcan would be available.
The officers said that because they now carry doses of Narcan, they were able to start saving the man's life 10 minutes before EMTs could arrive.
"Those 10 minutes could have been crucial for that individual," Rodriguez said.