WAUKESHA, Wis. (CBS 58) – Law enforcement K9s are an important part of drug investigations, but what happens when one of those dogs is exposed to a dangerous drug?

The state patrol is training troopers how to give NARCAN to their K9s. NARCAN is given to people who overdose on opioids.

One trooper says it’s just as important to treat the dogs as well.

“We send them into these places where they can potentially be exposed to these substances that may hurt them or put them down. We as humans, we can put HAZMAT suits on, gas masks on. As a K9, they use their nose for their job, but they don’t get to put a gas mask on,” said Trooper Darrick Lorbecki.

The training session takes about four hours. The K9s get NARCAN in the form of a nasal spray.

Trooper Lorbecki says it works exactly the same as it does on a human.