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North Adams First Responders Now All Carry Narcan
By Jack Guerino, iBerkshires Staff
01:28AM / Wednesday, April 13, 2016
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Mayor Richard Alcombright stands with emergency responders and members of the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition to announce all first-responders will be carrying Narcan.


Narcan is already being used by the North Adams Ambulance Service and has saved four lives in just one week.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — All ambulance, police officers, and firefirefighters in the city now carry Narcan, a nasal spray opiate antidote that can save people from overdosing.

The use of the antidote is already saving lives.

Mayor Richard Alcombright, along with emergency responders and Northern Berkshire Community Coalition members, announced Tuesday afternoon that North Adams first responders will be the first in Berkshire County to all carry Narcan.

And it has already saved lives.

"The math on this today, and on one level unfortunate but also very very important, is April 7 through April 11 emergency management folks have administrated seven doses of Narcan to save four lives," the mayor said during a press event at North Adams Ambulance Service.

Alcombright said the effort to bring Narcan to all first responders started several months ago and it recently came to be through recommendations from the Massachusetts Municipal Association's Opiate Task Force and the guidance of NBCC.

Alcombright said the ambulance already carries Narcan and, after conversations with Police Director Michael Cozzaglio and Fire Director Stephen Meranti, it was decided to take a full emergency-responders approach to the opiate crisis in the city.  

"We talked about how we could make Narcan available throughout our emergency management system and that came to fruition quite recently," he said. "I am very proud to say that all of these folks standing behind me ... are able to administer Narcan in the event of an overdose."

Those overdosing from drugs such as heroin or opiate-based medication can experience respiratory depression, sedation, and hypotension that can be fatal.

Once the nasal spray enters the blood stream, it reverses the overdose symptoms until the patient's repository rate increases and they become conscious.

Ambulance Service Assistant Chief Amalio Jusino said now that all first responders carry Narcan so whoever responds to the 911 call first can potentially save a life.

"It allows us that time and that is why It is so critical that fire and police have this because oftentimes a cruiser can get there sooner than an ambulance can," Jusino said. "When that happens they can administer the Narcan ... and that's how we saw it already save four lives in a week."

Alcombright said first responders are trained to save lives and, hopefully, addicts saved by Narcan will take a look at recovery.

"It is not an easy road for addicts and their families ... our first responders are trained to save lives," the mayor said. "The idea is every time we administer Narcan, there is hope for that addict and that family that they can maybe get to anther facility and get more treatment ... this could possibly be a life-changer for them."

Alcombright said Narcan will allow emergency services to take on the opiate crisis "head on" and allow them to try to make a "terrible situation" better.

"We have tremendous first responders, and we have a tremendous emergency management team," he said. "All of these folks behind me are the ones responsible for that."

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