Tewksbury Site Of Narcan Training Session On Saturday

TEWKSBURY, MA — The Front Line Initiative has announced it will be offering a Narcan training session in Tewksbury on Saturday.

The session will take place at 11 a.m. at the Public Health Museum, located at 365 East St. The session is free, and registration is available online.

Narcan, also known as Naloxone, is a lifesaving drug that quickly reverses the effects of opioids on the body and can save the life of a person experiencing an overdose, according to the Front Line Initiative.

The organization said the drug has no major side effects and can be administered by members of the public with just limited training.

Those attending the session will get that training, receive free doses of the drug and get additional information about Narcan, according to organizers.

"Last year, almost 2,300 overdose deaths were identified in Massachusetts, a sad record number of cases, and over 90 percent involved an opioid drug, primarily fentanyl. This is an ongoing public health emergency," said Dr. Al DeMaria Jr., president of the Public Health Museum.

DeMaria added: "The Public Health Museum is very pleased to host training in this life-saving intervention in the face of this declared public health emergency."

The Front Line Initiative is a regional mental health collaborative consisting of the police departments of Tewksbury, Billerica, Chelmsford, Dracut and Tyngsborough, Beth Israel Lachey Health Behavioral Services and other community partners.

The collaborative provides the community with a direct connection to behavioral health and substance use services.

In late September, the Front Line Initiative hosted a Narcan training session at the Tewksbury Public Library where the organization distributed 42 kits of Narcan and trained 45 people to administer the drug.

"One of the most effective ways to prevent overdose deaths among the at-risk population of those with substance use disorder is to carry and know how to administer Narcan, which has saved tens of thousands of lives nationwide," said Matthew Shelton, the executive director of the Front Line Initiative.