We never know where or when an overdose might take place. That reality was recently demonstrated in New York City when fans celebrated the Knicks winning the NBA championship.

This Spotlight News story describes what happened when a man showed signs of an overdose at the championship parade on June 18. Simone Kelly, an EMT with the South Orange Rescue Squad, recognized what was happening and went into action administering Narcan to reverse the overdose. This serves as a good example that the overdose crisis is far from over and training individuals to administer Narcan is so important.

“Narcan is very easy to use. It’s just a spray into the nose,” Kelly said. “Anyone could have done what I did — it’s about being willing to step in.”

I encourage municipalities, health providers, and community organizations to continue to train individuals and to make Narcan more readily available. To keep up to date on ongoing efforts to address the opioid crisis in our state you can participate in the Knock Out Opioid Abuse Learning Series Webinars.