A nasal administered dose of Narcan. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)
WESTFIELD- Tapestry Health will host the “YOU narCAN SAVE LIVES” event at the Westfield Athenaeum on October 18 from 6:30PM to 8:00PM.
Attendees of the program will be taught the signs of an opiate overdose, how to conduct rescue breathing to keep the victim alive until medical help arrives, and how to administer Narcan.
Narcan (Naloxone HCL) comes in the form of either a nasal spray or injectable form, and is now commonly carried by police and emergency medical professionals. It is used to rapidly reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
The program is free to attend, and attendees will be provided Narcan to bring home with them.
“Our main focus on this is to try to get members of the community to really understand what an overdose looks like and what steps they need to take to reverse them,” says Nellie Maldonado, Assistant Director for Program Administration at Tapestry Health.
“We have done other events within different communities,” says Maldonado, “People will ask us to train their employees and staff, or themselves.”
Good Samaritan laws in Massachusetts allow a person to call the authorities if they are witness to an overdose without risking legal trouble for themselves.
“We have seen an increase of reportable overdoses,” says Maldonado, “I believe that the Good Samaritan law was helpful. Overdoses were occurring but people were not reporting them.”
If one is unable to attend the program in Westfield on October 18, Tapestry Health will be holding similar events around the Pioneer Valley over the next month.
There will be a presentation at the Palmer Public Library on October 23, Ludlow High School on October 28, and Chicopee Library on November 1.
In addition, there will be two presentations in Spanish in Holyoke and Springfield. Those will be held in the Holyoke Public Library on November 7 and the auditorium of Chestnut Middle School in Springfield on November 13.
This program is possible thanks to a grant to Tapestry Health from United Way of Pioneer Valley.
