NYC councilmembers receive training on how to administer Narcan
NEW YORK (PIX11) — Taylor Smith, a recovery peer advocate for the nonprofit Samaritan Daytop Village, bravely talking about his near fatal drug overdose with members of city council.
More importantly, he talked about how an emergency antidote played in saving his life.
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“About six years ago, I think I was about 24 – I had an experience, I overdosed. More than Likely, it was fentanyl,” this is extremely important for the welfare and the future of our society,” said Smith.
Samaritan set up shop Thursday right at the gated entrance to city hall and sought out one council member after another to offer a step-by-step guide on administering the rescue drug naloxone, commonly known as Narcan.
These are the same Narcan kits that Samaritans hands out in the community, and they’re relaying the same message to council members here at city hall. The “thee ps” – Peel the label, place it in your nose, and press. You need to wait 2 minutes because depending on how much fentanyl that person has ingested, you may need to do this all over again.
Council member Chi Osse wants Narcan to be more widely accessible beyond bars and nightclubs.
“I personally lost a friend to a fentanyl overdose,” said Osse.
When asked where he believes Narcan is needed, Osse responded, “All over. I think delis, restaurants. Even banks should hold Narcan in communities where we’re seeing high rates of overdoses.”
Councilwoman Linda Lee chairs the mental health, disabilities, and addictions committee.
“There’s one person, every three person, that dies of an opioid crisis. I think what we need to do is partner with the city agencies, as well as the non-profit organizations that are out on the ground doing this work,” said Lee.
Recovery peer advocate Jesus Hernandez says the decision to set up shop at the gates to city hall was no accident.
“Just being on the streets and talking to the community is not enough. We need people that have a bigger voice – that are higher up that can do the job that we can’t do. But we’re going to keep fighting the good fight, no matter what,” said Hernandez.
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