Save Lives – Receive Community Narcan Training
Last year, in the US, more than 72,000 people, nearly 200 a day, died of drug overdoses. This death toll is higher than the US military casualties in Vietnam and Iraq wars combined. One approach to helping prevent deaths from opioid overdose is the use of the opioid overdose antidote, Naloxone (brand name Narcan).
Naloxone blocks the opioid receptors in the brain, and can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. It has been available for almost 50 years as an antidote but has taken on an increased role in saving lives as the opioid epidemic has continued to grow. The American Medical Association endorses the training of lay people in the use of Narcan to prevent overdoses. Every state has enacted laws to increase naloxone availability and partnered with various providers to make Narcan kits/training available to community members.
St. Christopher’s Inn provides community training on how to administer Narcan and provides each person trained with a Narcan kit at no charge. Tyler Weyant, Security Manager at SCI, is a certified is a certified Narcan Trainer for New York State, and was called upon recently to lead a training for 21 people in the Putnam Valley Community. Several of the trainees were Putnam Valley Youth Ambulance Corp members. After the training, Narcan kits and official certification cards were distributed to everyone who participated.
If you are interested in being trained on how and when to administer Narcan, please visit the St. Christopher’s Inn website to learn when the next training will be held. If you are a member of a local group, and you would like us to provide on-site training for your group as a whole, please contact Cynthia Gerber, Communications Coordinator to arrange a time that will work for a trainer to come to you. CGerber@AtonementFriars.org 845-424-2140.
