SCPD, Purple Rock Project Share Narcan Awareness On Fire Island

FIRE ISLAND, NY — Community members came together to help prevent more overdose-related deaths on Fire Island in late June.

Suffolk County police and the Purple Rock Project, an organization dedicated to helping people who've lost loved ones to opioids heal, joined forces on June 23 at The Pines ferry dock to train guests in using Naloxone, aka Narcan, the medication that reverses opioid overdoses.

Participants were also given the opportunity to remember someone lost to overdose or fentanyl poisoning by writing their name on a purple rock.

SCPD Emergency Medical Service Officers Jason Byron and Alex Trzepizur led the Narcan training and distributed 218 doses. In addition, they educated people about the 911 Good Samaritan Law, which protects individuals who call for medical help during a suspected overdose from prosecution for certain illicit activities. They emphasized how accidental opioid exposures can affect people of all ages and that having Narcan in the home doesn't indicate substance abuse, but instead, preparedness and care for loved ones.

"That number of people who were willing to take a few minutes out of their day to learn about opioids, fentanyl and the overdose epidemic is always quite impressive," said Byron. "Many homes and businesses are now in The Pines are now stocked with Narcan."

Byron's crew works closely with SCPD’s Behavioral Health Section and Community Relations Bureau, including Sgt. Chris Ingoglia and his staff and Officer Karl Allison, who assisted with the training.

The team worked in partnership with Elinor Gum, Pines Care Center Manager and the Fire Island Property Pines Owners Association for the collaborative wellness event. In addition, the SCPD Marine Bureau assisted in transporting the team over to The Pines.

The Purple Rock Project's founder, Carole Trottere, lost her son Alex to fentanyl in 2018.

Trottere's organization often coordinates with SCPD's Narcan training and supplies purple-painted rocks that people can inscribe with the names of loved ones they've lost to overdoses. The rocks are then exhibited at the Suffolk County Environmental Center at the Scully Estate, Tree Memorial and Serenity Garden, 550 South Bay Avenue, Islip and other locations as a reminder of how many Long Islanders have died from O.D. and fentanyl poisonings.

"Writing a child’s name on a rock may seem like a small thing, but I think it is a way of saying to the world that their child was once here," Trottere told Patch during a prior interview.

PRP also distributes information about Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence, Gabriel’s Giving Tree and F.I.S.T. to community members.

SCPD and Purple Rock Project will be at the following events throughout the summer:

Thursday, June 26
Patchogue Alive at 5
5 to 10 p.m.

Tuesday, July 1
Alive by the Bay in Bay Shore
5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, July 10
Patchogue Alive at 5
5 to 10 p.m.

Sunday, July 13
Huntington Village Farmers Market
7:30 a.m. to noon

Tuesday, July 15
Alive by the Bay in Bay Shore
5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, July 17
Babylon Summer Block Party
5 to 9 p.m.

Sunday, July 20
Huntington Village Farmers Market
7:30 a.m. to noon

Tuesday, July 29
Alive by the Bay in Bay Shore
5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, July 31
Patchogue Alive at 5
5 to 10 p.m.

Tuesday, August 12
Alive by the Bay in Bay Shore
5 to 9 p.m.

Thursday, August 14
Patchogue Alive at 5
5 to 10 p.m.

Thursday, August 21
Babylon Summer Block Party
5 to 9 p.m.