Lifesaving Narcan Station Program Expands To Hampton Bays

HAMPTON BAYS, NY — A lifesaving Narcan program has been expanded to a new location on the East End: Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital has brought its Narcan Rescue Station Program to businesses in Hampton Bays.

As a result of a presentation on the Narcan Rescue Station initiative to the Hampton Bays Rotary Club earlier this year, club members looked to embrace the program through a community training event.

The free event was held on Thursday, April 17 at the Hampton Bays Volunteer Ambulance Corp building. Local business owners and concerned citizens gathered to hear firsthand accounts and expert insights from Lt. William Kiernan of the Southampton Town Police Department; Briana Gladding, paramedic with Hampton Bays Volunteer Ambulance Corps; Rick Nydegger, chief of the Hampton Bays Fire Department; and Dr. Daniel Van Arsdale of Stony Brook Medicine.

Lt. Kiernan shared a story from the early days of Narcan use within the police department, recalling how he saved a teenager's life just two weeks after receiving his training.

"Within a minute of administering Narcan, the victim regained consciousness," he said.

Gladding pointed out that many individuals who receive Narcan are not always experiencing opioid abuse. "Often, they are adults who accidentally overdose by forgetting they’ve already taken their medication," she said.

Chief Nydegger opened his heart, reflecting on how access to Narcan could have made a difference in his own family; he lost his son to a tragic overdose, he said.

After the session, he picked up multiple Narcan kits to equip all Hampton Bays Fire Department chiefs' vehicles.

Gina Chinese, representing Community Action for Social Justice, led a hands-on training session followed by a question-and-answer session, aimed to provide attendees with practical knowledge and tools to respond to opioid-related emergencies.

Local business leaders from Skidmore’s, Pooltastic Poolworks, Legacy Optical, Station Bar, Barnyard, Sayville Inn, Rapid Recovery, Flanders Men’s Club, and Southampton Publick House took part in the initiative, picking up Narcan Rescue Stations and additional doses for their establishments.

Others have expressed interest in obtaining supplies, marking a strong community response to the growing effort, SBELIH said.

SBELIH said they and their partners plan to continue "to take proactive steps in combating the opioid crisis, through delivering education, access and compassion where it’s needed most."

The original Narcan stations were installed in Greenport businesses: A cloak of mourning hung heavy over Greenport in 2021 after a batch of fentanyl-laced cocaine led to eight overdoses and six deaths over eight days on the North Fork and Shelter Island.

That loss continued to reverberate and then, Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital, the Greenport Village Improvement District, Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. and Community Action for Social Justice came together to unveil the new Narcan rescue stations.

The rescue stations were situated in North Fork establishments, including bars, breweries and restaurants, to prevent potential opioid overdoses. The first two were installed at Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. in Peconic and Greenport, organizers of the project said.

“It’s painful to remember the summer of 2021,” Richard Vandenburgh, owner of Greenport Harbor Brewing Co. and President of the BID, wrote in a letter to local business owners. "Over one horrible week, the lives of Nicole Eckardt, Fausto Rafael Herrera Campos, Swainson Brown, Matthew Lapiana, Seth Tramontana, and Navid Ahmadzadeh were cut short. As the head of the Greenport Village Business Improvement District, and a member of this amazing, compassionate community, I am reaching out to ask you to help me prevent more tragedies like the one we faced in 2021."

The Narcan rescue stations come equipped with multiple doses of naloxone, the life-saving drug that prevents death from opioid overdose, as well as detailed administering instructions.

"The tragedy that occurred in 2021 could have been prevented," said Paul J. Connor, chief administrative officer at SBELIH at the time. "These Narcan rescue stations will honor the legacies of those we’ve lost by ensuring nobody else meets the same tragic fate."

The program was even implemented in Southold Town Hall. And Kait's Angels worked to install the Narcan stations in schools.