FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — Agencies across the Triad are trained to administer Naloxone, more commonly known as Narcan. The nasal spray is used to reverse an opioid overdose.
Those same agencies want you to know how to do the same thing.
You might be shocked to know how often local first responders use Narcan to reverse an overdose. In Guilford County, EMS workers say they need to use it nearly 4 times a day. Chief of Northeast Guilford's Fire Department, Jeff Chrismon said it's a big problem.
"We've had overdoses from one end of our territory to the other, it's a widespread problem and it's getting worse. The drugs are actually getting worse, so the effects are getting worse," Chrismon said.
The problem is so bad next door in Forsyth County, they installed a vending machine that dispenses free kits of Naloxone. In its first year, the machine dispensed an average of 300 kits a month.
"Naloxone is important. We equate it to the need of a smoke alarm in a home. So, we have smoke alarms, not because we wish to have fires but we have smoke alarms because we hope that we are in a situation that there is a fire, that it could help to reduce harm. Naloxone can do the same," Forsyth County's Behavioral Health Services Director, Denise Price.
Forsyth County leaders hosted a training session Tuesday night to teach people how to use it and also the importance of having it on standby. They say knowing what to do after an overdose reversal, which includes calling 911, is also important.
"A lot of times people don't know that their relative or the person they're in contact with is doing drugs and we might get dispatch for a cardiac and get there and we have to look for all the signs that show that they've done an opioid overdose and that's where the Narcan is affective on," Chrismon said.
Not only is Narcan simple to administer, Price said it's also safe, "if someone doesn't need it, it's not going to do harm unless there happens to be an allergy which is highly unlikely, but if they have overdosed, it could do a lot of good."
Community leaders say, although you might not know someone who uses drugs, having Narcan on hand could help save a life.
Forsyth county also gives free Narcan at its pharmacy. It's even considering adding another vending machine location because the first one has been so successful.