Jan. 4, 2023 • Volume 26, Issue 1 • Complimentary • BlufftonSun.com
INSIDE • Bluffton Library to collect items to address community needs 12A • New autopsy suite aids coroner in getting answers faster 16A • Noted restaurateur retires, closes shop after 50 years 20A • County honored for support of those with disabilities 23A • Community Foundation awards $412,000 24A
First Responders Project offers free Narcan, training to community By Gwyneth J. Saunders CONTRIBUTOR
On the Tuesday before Christmas in the lobby of the Bluffton Branch Library, about a dozen people gathered for a non-festive reason: To learn how to reverse the effects of a drug overdose. Tony “Pops” Roberts, a former paramedic in Virginia who now runs with the Lady’s Island-St. Helena Fire District, and Amanda, a peer support specialist, are members of the First Responders Project, part of the Beaufort County Alcohol and Drug Abuse Department. The pair were conducting a free training class in the application of the Narcan nasal spray to anyone who showed up. “What we do is we respond to opioid overdoses in the county. We’re trying to get those people into recovery, find out why they’re using drugs, and then we move on to try and get them help,” said Roberts. “The biggest thing that we do with this is we try to get Narcan out into the community.” Narcan – also known as Naloxone – is a first-aid medicine that quickly reverses an opioid overdose. It can restore normal breathing, lasting about 15 minutes per dose,
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enough time in Beaufort County for first responders to arrive on the scene to administer further interventions. Most of the attendees were people worried about their grandchildren. “I’m here because I have grandchildren, and I’m worried about them,” said Chuck Dulcie. “I have 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. I think this information is going to be helpful.” When Lorraine Harrison saw the event pop up on Facebook. She put it on her calendar right away. “I’m worried about my grandchildren. I wasn’t going to miss this,” she said. Amanda said the six-member team frequently presents this program in schools, churches, the YMCA and anywhere else for groups that want the information. The mother of 17- and 8-year-old sons is just as concerned about what her children might encounter, especially when it comes to sharing lunches, candy and everything else. “That was my jam for Halloween. (Drugs can be) disguised as Skittles, Smarties, any type of other candy. I tell my kid, ‘No matter what, you don’t take candy from other people. I would rather buy you a big bag of
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PHOTOS BY GWYNETH J. SAUNDERS
Nancy Horkay examines a model of Narcan nasal spray during a presentation by the First Responders Project at the Bluffton Branch Library. Project team members Tony “Pops” Roberts, center, and Amanda, a peer support specialist, right, spoke about the increasing spread of opioids.
sugar mess and let you run up and down my house, rather than pass away from opioid overdose,’” she said. “The biggest issue that we have with what’s
going on right now is that this is making its way into our communities through what
Please see NARCAN on page 8A