Over 70,000 Americans died in 2019 after overdosing on illicit drugs. Many of those overdoses were due to the ingestion of heroin and heroin laced with fentanyl. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl are the most common drugs to cause an overdose.
Fentanyl is between 50-100 times stronger than heroin, and a small amount can have massive effects. Dealers often mix it with other drugs to heighten potency because it is cheap to produce.
In 2017, Project Hope was founded in Alaska to distribute NARCAN to communities in an attempt to prevent deaths from overdose.
The Dahl Memorial Clinic’s John Hischer explains how NARCAN works.
“It’s an easy-to-use nasal spray that temporarily blocks or reverses the effects of opioids. And so a lot of times when folks have overdosed, they’re not breathing. When people use this nasal spray it affects them immediately and allows the person to breathe again.”
The Dahl Memorial Clinic in Skagway, in conjunction with Project Hope, is offering Narcan to the community free of charge. Heroin or synthetic opioid users or family members, first responders, and even local bars are eligible to receive the life-saving drug.
In order to get the Narcan, you’ll need to take a short class. The class is anonymous, Mr. Hischer says he doesn’t take down any names.
“Yeah, it’s this really short, really 10-minute class that I have to give. It’s training on the signs of an overdose, and how to use it. And it is very simple. It is this nasal spray, you put it in someone’s nose and hit the plunger,” said Hischer.
According to Hischer, there aren’t many overdoses in Skagway every year, but over the last few summers, there have been some. This winter there was an overdose in town that was an eye-opener to many.
“There is heroin in town, and there’s fentanyl in the heroin, which is a very dangerous opiate. So if people even touch it, they can get sick from it. And there are some folks on legally prescribed opiates. I encourage people who are on legally prescribed opiates to have Narcan as well because people have been known to accidentally overdose on some of that. So just having that in their home can save lives, too,” said Hischer.
If you are in contact with an overdose victim the first step is to dial 911, the Narcan effects are temporary so medical attention is necessary to prevent lasting medical issues. If you are going to touch the victim, use protective gloves as fentanyl is so strong that even touching it unwittingly can lead to an accidental overdose.
There are no known side effects of Narcan, so its administration is a safe procedure when done properly. You can contact John Hischer at j.hischer@skagway.org, or by phone through the Dahl Memorial Clinic.
