Narcan Distribution Provides Lifeline in Opioid Epidemic

By The City and County of Broomfield

Leon’s and Liz’s daughters are buried in the same cemetery, two plots away from each other. Leon lost his daughter, Sara, to an opioid overdose in 2020. Liz lost her daughter, Brooke, to fentanyl poisoning two years later. Although Sara and Brooke never knew each other, their stories are two sides of the same coin of the opioid epidemic: Sara passed due to a substance use disorder and Brooke passed after experimenting with opioids once.

Leon and Liz both believe if there were wider access and increased knowledge of Narcan—a life-saving nasal spray that reverses opioid overdose—other families might not experience the grief they have over losing their daughters.

When Sara was 21, she had a surgery that resulted in infection and was hospitalized. She was prescribed opiates to manage her pain and left the hospital with an opioid use disorder. With Leon’s support, she started treatment and was sober for five years. She graduated from college, was planning to get married, and became an advocate for reducing stigma around opioid use disorders. However, when the pandemic hit, her lifeline to treatment was delayed by 45 days. Sara died from an overdose one day before her next scheduled treatment.

In December of 2021, Brooke and her boyfriend found a pill in an Uber. A few weeks later, they looked up the pill online, assumed it was a prescribed painkiller and decided to split it. They quickly knew something was wrong and Brooke called 9-1-1. Because of the effects from the pill, she couldn’t tell dispatch their location or what was occuring. Without an apartment number or any signs or sounds of a problem, first responders could not find them. Several hours later, Brooke’s boyfriend woke up to find Brooke unresponsive. An autopsy later confirmed that Brooke passed away from fentanyl poisoning.

Liz and Leon met in Broomfield’s Regional Opioids Council, which is facilitated by the City and County of Broomfield (CCOB) and is part of CCOB’s larger effort to reduce substance use and improve mental health. One of the council’s strategies to reduce fatal opioid overdoses is to expand access to Narcan.

“Narcan is a medication that can prevent people from dying and keep them alive long enough to get them into treatment,” said Leon. “We are saving lives in Broomfield on a regular basis because we are making it available.”

Narcan is available for free to anyone—no questions asked—at the Broomfield Library and Broomfield Municipal Courts. In the first two months of the campaign, over 350 boxes were distributed. Liz believes Brooke would have survived if first responders had found her. “If you’re experimenting with drugs, nothing out there is safe to take,” said Liz. “Always know where you are, have someone with you, and carry Narcan.”

Leon believes that reducing stigma will help people stay alive and seek treatment. “The stigma that runs with substance use and behavioral health challenges causes so much damage,” said Leon. “The worst thing I’ve ever had to do is give CPR to my daughter and have it be unsuccessful. If we have Narcan available and it saves one kid, one mom, one life—that means everything.”

Anyone interested in picking up free Narcan can learn more at Broomfield.org/Narcan.