Weymouth Firefighters Look to Attack Opiate Addiction

Firefighters in Weymouth have been saving lives of people who have experienced an opiate overdose and now they are looking to help others.

The fire department is now working to create a network of free addiction-support services for families of drug users, according to Boston.com. They hope it will serve as a model for other communities across Massachusetts.

Weymouth firefighters have saved 17 people in the last three months by using a naloxone nasal spray to revive people suffering life-threatening effects from an opiate overdose, the Globe reported.

Now the department hopes to help opiate addicts who they have watched suffer.  The Weymouth Fire Department has requested $6,800 grant toward a total of about $21,000 required for a new family addiction support team, according to the Globe. 

The project would create a “support net” to help families and individuals cope with addiction.

Numbers show that opiate addiction is a problem in Weymouth. In 2010, 1,181 Weymouth residents were admitted to public substance abuse treatment programs, according to state Department of Public Health data. More than 40 percent of these residents identified heroin as their primary drug of use, the Globe stated.

For more details on the Weymouth Fire Department’s efforts to fight opiate addiction, read the full story on Boston.com.

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