Hops

ever were in the position.

she mentioned the “Opioid Antidote and Overdose Prevention Act,” which basically states that they cannot be arrested if they possess any illegal substances at the time of requesting medical assistance. t his law, also known as the “g ood samaritan Act,” was created in order to encourage calls for help.

Furthermore, the person that administers the Narcan also cannot be sued if the person dies.

Narcan training wouldn’t be complete without showing how to actually distribute the medication.

Hicks first spoke about how to know if an overdose is occurring by sharing the differences between a high and overdose.

she then shared the symptoms of an overdose, which are slow and labored breathing with gurgling sounds (even not breathing at all), cold and clammy skin (with possible blue lips and fingertips), confusion, unconsciousness, seizures and pinpoint pupils.

As she explained how Narcan works, she took out the Narcan nose spray, the delivery method best for lay people.

she stated that it’s even safe to use on someone that isn’t overdosing as it wouldn’t affect them at all. so that her trainees could remember this, she created a motto, “When in doubt, spray it out.”

After all the explanations, she went over the three steps to stop an overdose:

1. Call 911 and place the victim on their side so they don’t choke

2. Administer rescue breaths (two every 5-7 seconds)

3. Administer Narcan, (the nose spray has one 4mg dose in it) u pon completion of the training, each individual was given a Narcan kit, which included the 4mg of Narcan, gloves, a card with the three steps, a “report back” card and a mask to put on the victim. the “report back” card is to be sent to the urban treatment Associates so that the overdose can be reported and a new, free kit can be sent. the mask is provided because even coming in contact with opioids can cause an overdose on the responder.

After administering, it’s important to stay with the victim, try to wake them up and assist them until EM s arrives.

Next month, Hicks will begin her free monthly sessions at stockton university. For more information: Narcan@ utassoc.com

Julia is a student at Rider University, majoring in multiplatform journalism with a minor in social media strategies. At school, she writes and copy edits for The Rider News and is the News Director for the radio station, producing news updates. She’ll be graduating in the spring. Connect with her on Instagram @ juliatrain

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