Hackettstown EMTs Trained, Authorized to Administer New Drug Overdose Antidote

Becoming one of the first groups in the state to be fully trained and authorized, Hackettstown Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Medical Services department is now able to carry and administer Narcan, a drug overdose-reversing antidote.

Narcan is a life-saving medication that reverses the effects of an opiate overdose, including drugs such as heroin, morphine, fentanyl, oxicodone, Percocet and methadone, according to the hospital.

An opiate overdose can lead to a patient’s respiratory system becoming depressed, causing them to stop breathing. Narcan has the ability to reverse those effects and bring the patient back to consciousness and breathing in a matter of minutes.

As of June 1, Hackettstown Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Medical Services department became one of the first ambulance companies in New Jersey to be trained and authorized to administer Narcan, according to a statement from the hospital. Now all 58 of the EMTs are authorized and each ambulance carries the antidote.

“While it is unfortunate that an opiate antidote is needed at all, Narcan is a valuable tool for us to have available for use on a call. When an overdose is suspected and basic lifesaving skills are being performed, Narcan can make the difference between a life saved or lost,” said Gene Gast, Director of Emergency Medical Services at HRMC in a statement. “We are one of the first NJ hospitals to train our staff and have Narcan available and, as a result, one of the first to have saved a life with its use.”