Free Community Training On Overdose Agent, Narcan

From SUCASA: Suffern United Coalition Against Substance Abuse (SUCASA) is pleased to announce that in collaboration with Samaritan Daytop Village and Suffern Free Library, they will host a free “Save a Life” Narcan training to teach community members how to recognize and prevent an overdose. Narcan, or naloxone, is a prescription drug that can reverse the effects of prescription opioid and heroin overdose, and can be life-saving if administered in time.

All who complete the training, which will be held on February 1, 2017 from 6:00–7:30 pm at the Suffern Free Library (210 Lafayette Ave, Suffern, NY 10901) will receive a free Narcan kit. Seating will be limited, RSVP required (details below).

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) advocate that programs provide laypersons with training and kits containing the opioid antagonist naloxone hydrochloride (naloxone) to reverse the potentially fatal respiratory depression caused by heroin and other opioids. According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths in the United States have nearly tripled since 1999. In 2013, more than 16,000 deaths in the United States involved prescription opioids, and more than 8,000 others were related to heroin. The latest data reveal that New York is one of 19 states that saw a significant rise in drug overdose death rates, with a 20.4% increase from 2014 to 2015.

The New York State Department of Health considers drug overdose to be a serious public health concern and says that opioid-related overdose has increased as a health threat. New York State Good Samaritan law makes it legal in New York State for non-medical persons to administer naloxone to another individual to prevent an opioid/heroin overdose from becoming fatal.

About the presentation:

The free Narcan Training will be held at Suffern Free Library, 210 Lafayette Ave, Suffern, NY 10901, on February 1, 2017 from 6:00–7:30 pm. Seating will be limited. To reserve a spot at the training, interested community members can RSVP to Christina Rosen at crosen@wellcore.org or call (973) 632-7860.

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