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Recognizing a heroin overdose

East Rockaway residents learn signs of addiction, how to administer Narcan

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In an effort to help combat the ongoing opioid epidemic in Nassau County, several dozen East Rockaway residents learned about the signs of addiction, and some became certified in using Narcan, an overdose antidote administered via nasal spray, at the Grant Avenue firehouse on Jan. 13.

“It’s always great to see this many people being proactive in terms of dealing with this epidemic,” said one speaker, a mother who lost her son to addiction.

First responders — police, firefighters and emergency medical techs — are using Narcan on overdose victims by injection as well as intranasal spray, according to Mike Seltzer, president of the Nassau County Police Medic Association and a police medic with the Emergency Ambulance Bureau.

He said that the mucous membranes in the nasal cavity can absorb the antidote even if the recipient’s heartbeat is faint. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 10,000 lives have been saved with Narcan since 2006 — and the number of successes is believed to be under-reported.

Similar to the way beta blockers work to mediate the body’s stress response, Narcan, or naloxone, blocks opioid receptors in the brain, temporarily relieving the effects of an overdose. When successful, this keeps the body functioning long enough to get the victim to a hospital.

As Narcan becomes more well known, a parent in the audience asked if she should tell her child that she has been trained to use it, to which David Hymowitz, of the Mental Health Association of Nassau County, replied, “That’s one of the biggest debates.” He said that parents are often worried that that information may send the message that it’s OK to get high, and that Narcan will always save an overdose victim. This concern has also been voiced in response to the Food and Drug Administration’s recent measure to begin selling the antidote in local pharmacies.

“I have seven overdoses under my belt — three of them, my heart stopped beating and Narcan didn’t work,” an addict in recovery told the audience. Several residents gasped as he described his experience, which evidenced an unfortunate reality: sometimes Narcan is unsuccessful.

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