Stop Overdoses With Free Narcan, Training In Bucks Co.

WARMINSTER, PA — Agencies in Bucks County will be giving away free Narcan — a drug that works to stop overdoses — and provide training on how to use it at three local events.

The events will be held from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 13. The training only takes a short time, according to event organizers.

The locations are:

• Southern Bucks Recovery Community Center, 1286 Veterans Highway, Suite D-6, Bristol
• Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission, 600 Louis Dr. Suite 102-A, Warminster
• Bucks County Free Library, 401 W. Mill St. Quakertown

The event will be taking place during Stop Overdoses in PA Week, a statewide initiative in Pennsylvania during which health departments and other drug-prevention agencies will be working to get the overdose-stopping drug into the hands of the public as well as providing other help for those with opioid addiction.

The week is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Gov. Tom Wolf's office.

"We cannot get someone into treatment if they are dead," said Pennsylvania Department of Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine. "Naloxone is a medication that can give someone suffering from the disease of opioid-use disorder a chance at recovery. We will have nurses and medical personnel at state health centers to distribute naloxone to anyone who wants it on Dec. 13, as well as information on how to administer it and get help."

Narcan, generic name Naloxone, is an anti-opioid. In some overdose cases, multiple applications are needed to revive an overdose sufferer.

Naloxone is only considered a temporary remedy for an opioid overdose, and medical attention should still be sought even after it is administered.

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