News from the Noteworthy by LEAF

First Aid Kits Get a New, Life-saving Addition

The addiction and overdose crisis continues to claim more than 100,000 lives a year in our country. Since 1999, which historically marks the beginning of the opioid crisis, more than one million people have died (CDC). Let that number sink in. One Million Dead. It is currently the leading cause of death for adults aged 18 to 45 and fentanyl is involved in 73 percent of those deaths.

I cannot stress this point strongly enough: We can no longer assume that there is any “safe” drug supply on the streets, social media, or the Internet (licensed online pharmacies and regulated dispensaries excepted). Fentanyl has been found in cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, counterfeit pills and gummies.

With that, it makes sense that the overdose antidote, naloxone (Narcan), should be in first-aid kits anywhere that there are people. Think about it. So many of us are trained in basic first aid, CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. Most of us know what to do when someone is having a diabetic drop in sugar. We almost instinctively know what to do if someone experiences a seizure. We know those things because we’ve been taught those things.

If we’re losing 100,000 people per year to overdose, doesn’t it make sense that we know how to respond if an overdose happens in our presence? If that is true, it also makes sense that naloxone (Narcan) be available wherever people may be. Because fentanyl is so prevalent, exposures can happen in a variety of circumstances. People who use drugs regularly are at higher risk, but even those who use now and then can be exposed. Those who have purchased Xanax, Ativan, Adderall or other seemingly legitimate medications could fall victim to unlicensed pharmacies.

I know that my focus is almost always prevention. I have not lost sight of that. LEAF is always going to “major” in prevention. When so many people are dying from a substance, it is appropriate to make enough of a pivot to help people stay alive. The work of getting naloxone (Narcan) into businesses and organizations goes hand-in-hand with the work we’re already doing in the community.

Some of the most fulfilling work we do is going into businesses and providing workplace wellbeing training. While we’re working with employees on their wellbeing and the wellbeing of their organization, it makes sense that we offer naloxone (Narcan) for their location as just one more piece of their overall wellness.

You may have seen the recent coverage of the ONEbox™ initiative that we’re doing in partnership with the Oneonta Narcan Initiative Team. Placing lifesaving naloxone first-aid kits in businesses can help to save a life if someone were to ever have an opioid overdose crisis.

If your Otsego County business, church, school, or organization has a brick-and-mortar location and would like to have a ONEbox ™ naloxone kit, give us a call at (607) 432-0090. We can make arrangements for you to have one, free of charge. We will also help you maintain it and keep it supplied. Our greatest hope would be that you never have to use it. And, on the off chance that an overdose should happen, the lifesaving antidote to an overdose will be close at hand.

Julie Dostal is executive director of the LEAF Council on Alcoholism & Addictions, Oneonta.