Local ambulances and hospitals in Onondaga County have had access to a reversal agent that stops the effects of heroin and opiate pain killers to prevent overdoses for about a month. Now, through a grant, ACR Health in Syracuse is offering training programs for people to get legally trained to administer the drug in the event someone they know is overdosing.
The drug Naloxone, also known as Narcan, will then be provided to them after the training. Director of Prevention, Erin Bortel explains how the training is invaluable.
“Narcan reverses an opioid overdose with no side effects with the exception of withdrawal symptoms. And it is only effective with opioids which includes heroine. The medication has no abuse potential. It costs as little as one dollar per dose and it can be administered with a brief and basic training that we are now able to provide.”
Bortel says tens of thousands of lives have been saved and the reversal agent has been used in New York City since 2006. An East Syracuse Mother who wishes the training and kits for the reversal agent were made available is Melissa Hosier. She lost her daughter Kali who overdosed last November on heroin.
“She was going to be going back to school but, she was working a full-time job and had her own apartment but, pretty much on her own. So that made it a little harder because there wasn’t somebody there all the time but... I think if that was available for that situation there was still a possibility of possibly helping her.” possibility of possibly helping her.”
Hosier says her 19 year-old daughter was a high honors student and was an extremely talented artist. Regardless if anyone receives the training from them or not, A-C-R officials remind anyone who encounters a person overdosed on drugs can call 911 for emergency assistance and they won’t be held criminally liable. That’s because the State has a Good Samaritan Law in place since April of 2006. To find out more about training for the Narcan kits or the Safety First Syringe Exchange Program, anyone can contact ACR Health at their website ACR Health.org or call 1-800-475-2430.
