EDC Helps Stonington Launch Narcan Drug Training Program
By William Hobbs, EDC
This winter, the Economic Development Commission, or EDC, partnered with the Town of Stonington in a community outreach program, knocking on doors, and, in person, asking many of the local hotels and restaurants if they would like to participate in a Narcan drug training session.
The results were unanimous. Every business contacted resoundingly said they would like to participate. The EDC then collected names and emails of the owners and operators, put them into an Excel spreadsheet, and submitted them to the Town Hall.
What is Narcan or naloxone? It is a nasal spray, used to temporarily reverse the effects of an overdose from opioid medicines, like Percocet, Vicodin, OxyContin, including fentanyl and heroin. Narcan is the first emergency prescription medicine, approved by the FDA, literally saving hundreds of lives during the recent opioid epidemic.
A generous $4,000 grant from an Eastern Connecticut organization called Supporting and Engaging Resources for Action and Change, or SERAC, enabled the Stonington Prevention Council, the town’s Human Services and EDC to partner and host the Narcan event on March 30th.
Attendees participated virtually by Zoom in the training session, learning techniques on how to detect and prevent suicide and how to administer Narcan.
Kristen King, Youth and Family Services administrator for Stonington’s Human Services said, “We wanted to make sure that anyone and everyone who wants to be trained, can be trained, because Narcan saves lives.”
For more information about preventing substance abuse and addictive behaviors, contact the Stonington Human Services at 860.535.5015.