Public libraries in the 5th State Senate District just got a little bit safer, thanks to the addition of Narcan — or naloxone — a medication that can be used to reverse or reduce the effects of an opioid overdose.
State Sen. Steve Rhoads, who has spearheaded the potentially lifesaving initiative, unveiled the program at the East Meadow Public Library on Oct. 16. All 12 libraries in his district will be equipped with wall-mounted naloxone rescue kits.
Rhoads said Nassau County’s 54 libraries receive a total of more than 6.5 million visitors every year. In total, they host an average of 125 programs a day, and last year, 775,000 people attended at least one program at a Nassau County public library.
“Libraries are more than just book repositories,” he said. “They are community centers, classrooms, senior hubs, youth spaces, workforce training sites, and now lifesaving access points.”
Joining Rhoads in rolling out the kits were directors and staff from the libraries within his district, as well as local first responders and representatives from the Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence, and the state’s
Office of Addiction Services and Supports.
“Libraries are in business, enriching lives,” Frank McKenna, director of the Seaford Public Library, said, “but sometimes we need to help save lives. We will be able to provide that service to our communities.”
A total of 20 Narcan rescue kits will be mounted on library walls within the district, which includes Bellmore Memorial Library, East Meadow Public Library, North Merrick Public Library, Wantagh Public Library, Seaford Public Library, Levittown Public Library, North Bellmore Public Library, and Merrick Library.
The kits also will be handy in Island Trees Public Library, Hicksville Public Library, Bethpage Public Library, and Plainview Old-Bethpage Public Library. Each library will be outfitted with between one and four kits, with some requesting more based on the size and layout of each building, a representative from Rhoads’ office told the Herald.
The kits were provided at no cost to the libraries.
Narcan is administered in the form of a nasal spray to someone experiencing an opioid overdose, and each kit features a QR code that someone accessing it can scan for a quick debriefing — in English or Spanish — on how to use the spray.
Jessica Sorbello, of the Office of Addiction Services and Supports, said overdose rates are decreasing across the state and nation — which deserves to be celebrated. But, she added, rates remain high, especially among minority communities and at-risk populations.
“The library is truly the greatest place that I could imagine rolling out something like this,” she said, “because we know that libraries are a safe haven.”
In Suffolk County, Rhoads said, six reported overdoses took place inside libraries in a single year — showing that this is something that actually occurs in public spaces. Data was not immediately available for Nassau County. Rhoads, who’s been part of the Wantagh Fire Department for 30 years, said keeping Narcan handy is critically important.
“When you have someone who’s in respiratory arrest, not able to breathe on their own, the fact that (someone) can provide (Narcan) and have it on site is truly lifesaving,” he said. “To be able to reverse the impacts of an overdose is truly incredible.”
Years ago, only first responders were allowed to administer Narcan, according to James Kane, a former chief with the East Meadow Fire Department. Now, the opioid antidote is available to the public in many forms — at trainings, at pharmacies and now at libraries in the 5th State Senate District.
“Time, sometimes, is not on our side,” Kane said. “So having this readily available to people, giving them the ability to be trained, having it accessible in a library — there are options to get it done quickly and be able to save people’s lives, which is key.”
Rhoads explained that legislation passed in the State Senate last year to make the addition of Narcan at libraries a statewide initiative. However, it did not pass in the State Assembly. Rhoads wanted to adopt the legislation’s ideas in his own district and give it a tangible, local impact — the first of its kind in libraries in New York.
“Even if one life is saved,” he said, “then this initiative will have been worth everything.”
Steve Chassman, executive director of the Long Island Council on Alcoholism & Drug Dependence, said placing Narcan kits in libraries helps eliminate the stigma associated with the disease of addiction.
“Drugs are killing our artists, our thinkers, our family members, our colleagues, our young people at a rate we’ve never seen,” he said. “So, this is an opportunity for spreading the message, that we understand this is a disease. We understand there is no cure, but a solution, and we believe in recovery.”
