Free Narcan Training Seminar Coming To Smithtown

SMITHTOWN, NY — The Town of Smithtown is offering free Narcan training later this month, the town's Horizons Counseling and Education Center announced.

The event, scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Aug. 31, is being held for International Overdose Awareness Day and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Recovery Month. The seminar will be held in the community room of Horizons Counseling and Education Center, at 161 E. Main St., Smithtown.

"Our communities are living in a time that fatal and non-fatal overdose has affected each individual directly or in-directly," said Joe Bieniewicz, director of the town's Drug and Alcohol Counseling Services, in a news release. "Everyone knows someone who has overdosed either personally or through a friend, family member, co-worker or acquaintance. With fentanyl infecting our communities; awareness, prevention, treatment, policy and stigma relevant to loss of life involving the drug, are all examples of the importance of International Overdose Awareness Day and what the campaign targets throughout the world."

The counseling and education center understands the impact overdoses have on the person and their loved ones, Bieniewicz said.

Narcan is a lifesaving drug that can reverse an opioid overdose.

"Training like the one we are offering is valuable to the public in recognizing the signs and symptoms of and responding to overdose," Bieniewicz said. "Narcan administration is a simple method of emergency response that carries an immense lifesaving result."

On International Overdose Awareness Day, people and communities raise awareness of what the town called one of the world’s "most urgent public health crises" — and it's only getting worse.

"Having an outpatient drug and alcohol agency right in the township is an asset for the community," the town stated. "Additionally, learning the signs of an overdose can help save a life. The International Overdose Awareness Day 2023 theme of 'Recognizing those people who go unseen' is about acknowledging people in our communities who are affected by overdose but might go unseen in the crisis."

Narcan kits will be provided for free at the event. Horizons Counseling and Education Center resource tables will be set up around the training area, filled with information about recovery services, the outpatient program and substance misuse prevention education. The town said all are welcome to attend to get trained and to hear about the drug and alcohol treatment and prevention services that Horizons provides.

Space is limited and on a first come first serve basis. Residents can reserve space by scanning the QR code on the flier, contacting Horizons Counseling and Education Center at 631-360-7578, via email at kdevito@smithtownny.gov, or by registering online.