Seconds could make the difference between life and death when it comes to helping someone going into anaphylactic shock.

An Ocean County lawmaker wants to make it mandatory for all police officers to be trained and carry an EpiPen while on duty in honor of a young man who died when he was 23.

Anthony Maruca, an athletic Rutgers graduate, was just starting life in Boston when a food allergy turned fatal in 2017.

“He went out to dinner with his friends in Boston and a fast-food restaurant. He went into anaphylactic shock,” said Assemblyman Gregory McGuckin, a Republican from the 10th district. “I started introducing a bill back in 2022. This is now the third legislative session we’ve introduced it.”

Eleven years ago, Nancy Collins had what she called the best shrimp dinner of her life. Now a mother of three boys, that meal nearly cost her life.

“Went out to dinner on Sunday was totally fine. When I got home my throat closed. Called 911 and Jackson beat the 911 here and had an EpiPen,” said Collins.

Retired Toms River Police Sgt. Kevin Geoghegan says officers are already trained in defibrillators and Narcan, so carrying EpiPens just make sense. In under a minute, he taught News 12's Jim Murdoch how to use one.

“More than 99% of the time, I would say police officers are truly the first responders,” said Geoghegan.

“For once, our state is doing something really good for those who need it,” said Collins.

Assemblyman McGuckin’s goal is to have a vote scheduled at least by the end of June to ultimately have one of these EpiPens in every single police vehicle in the state of New Jersey.

“By the time you wait for more advanced life support or get them to a hospital, just like Anthony’s case, it was too late. I’d like to never see that happen again,” he said.