Narcan should be part of your modern first-aid kit

To understand just how deadly and overwhelming the tragedy of drug overdose has become on Long Island, and the lengths to which we must go to stop the carnage, consider this astonishing comparison.

Long Island, with its crammed roads and aggressive drivers, is by far the most dangerous place to drive in New York. Traffic accidents killed 191 people here in 2020, a ghastly number.

But drug overdoses in Nassau and Suffolk counties in 2020 killed 698 people, 3.5 times as many as traffic accidents.

Opioids caused the vast majority of those overdose deaths. In most of those cases, the culprit was fentanyl, the hyper-powerful synthetic opioid that’s increasingly infecting every type of illicit drug concoction. And in many of the fatal instances, a dose of naloxone could have prevented the death, giving a drug user another chance at a better life.

That’s why the order last week from state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett that all pharmacies in New York be required to carry and dispense naloxone without a prescription is important news.

The fact that naloxone — often referred to under its brand name, Narcan — will generally be free to anyone who might need it is even better news. At pharmacies, the state’s Naloxone Co-payment Assistance Program will cover a copay of up to $40 for anyone who asks for the antidote and has health insurance with drug coverage. For those who don’t have prescription coverage, Narcan is still free to anyone at any of the state’s Opioid Overdose Prevention Program participants. These can be found at many police precincts, schools, community centers, hospitals, fire and ambulance departments, and other locations. And they’re numerous. There are well over 300 locations, excluding pharmacies, offering free Narcan on Long Island.

Check https://providerdirectory.aidsinstituteny.org/ for a list of providers near you.

So who should have Narcan on hand? Obvious answers abound, starting with opioid users themselves, plus their friends and families. But with a little more thought, it seems the real question is not “Who should carry Narcan?” but “Is there anyone who shouldn’t carry Narcan?” Not really, with a lifesaving tactic so needed and effective that carrying it truly is a case of “better safe than sorry.”

Whether at work or at school, at the gym or a house of worship or a mall or airport, walking the streets or having a few drinks and a bite to eat at a neighborhood spot, working on the clock or enjoying some leisure, you will never be sorry you had a dose or two of Narcan in a pocket, purse or glove box.

Sadly, it is as essential a part of the modern first-aid kit as Band-Aids. That’s a truth that’s terrible to accept, but an instance in which acceptance trumps deadly denial.