As heroin deaths rise, parents learn to give antidote

A blue nylon bag and 90 minutes of your time could mean the difference between life and death.

The bag contains a kit with naloxone, the drug that can stop a heroin overdose. The hour and a half is the time it takes to learn how to use it.

First responders have been armed with the treatment for about a year. New York state is about to start providing school nurses with kits, too. But there's a growing desire for private citizens — regular people, especially parents and loved ones — to get the training. And as the heroin epidemic grows, and more treatment centers are certified to conduct the class, medical professionals are not bashful about making it known they will train anyone who is willing.

Such was the case in March, when about 24 parents gathered inside the Leo Mintzer Community Center in West Harrison, N.Y., to undergo the training, sponsored by local support group Parents Helping Parents. They learned how surprisingly easy it is to administer naloxone, known as Narcan commercially. It can be dispensed with a nasal spray in less than 2 minutes.

And widespread training can't come soon enough, say experts. Between 2008 and 2012, the number of heroin overdoses jumped from 13% of all drug-related deaths to nearly 26%. More than one-third of all heroin seizures nationwide happen in New York state.

"It's one thing for Arms Acres to be able to dispense or have Narcan here," said Patrice Wallace-Moore, the CEO of the facility in Carmel, N.Y., that treats addicts with both inpatient and outpatient services. "But if the person lives 10 miles down the road, and they need Narcan right now, that's not going to help. We've got to be able to figure out how to make it accessible to people in the community.

"Time is of the essence."

Finding training

Rick Smith, who lives New Rochelle, N.Y., helped Parents Helping Parents set up the March session and received the training himself. His son was addicted to heroin and Smith has friends whose children have overdosed and died.

"You never know what you're going to find walking down the street any day," Smith said. "If you're prepared, you can be of assistance."

Setting up that training was not a straightforward affair. Smith Googled his way through various state Web pages, eventually landing on the site for Blaisdell Addiction Treatment Center in Orangeburg, which lists training sessions scheduled each month through December. He chalked up his success to clicking the right links, making the right calls and finding the right email addresses.

"It wasn't an obvious straight line, in that I knew nothing about anyone else (providing training) nor anyone else doing it." he said.

Until now, training has been targeted at law enforcement, health care professionals and users. Many training sessions are held in the afternoon. But as training centers open their doors to everyone, groups like Parents Helping Parents are trying to schedule training during more convenient hours.

In addition to Blaisdell's monthly sessions, Arms Acres was certified in December to conduct training. Both said they will work with any group that wants to schedule a session, and individuals can call to find a session.

"We're grateful that we've been given this opportunity," said Wallace-Moore of Arms Acres, whose staff was coached on how to conduct naloxone training last month. "It makes us a little bit more than just a drug treatment program. It's a lifesaving program."

Meanwhile, at the state level, officials are encouraging anyone interested to learn how to use naloxone. Wednesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the inclusion of $272,000 in the state budget for training school personnel to use naloxone.

Frederick Hesse, the medical director at Arms Acres, likened naloxone to emergency first aid training.

"I think it's tapping into a different part of the human need to help people," Hesse said. "(It is) just like why people get trained for CPR."

Smith, the parent who was at the training, said there should be consistent, well publicized training sessions.

"At one point in time it could've been my own son or my own next door neighbor," said Smith. "I wouldn't have known what to do and I might not even have recognized the issue."

What training is like

Naloxone works by pulling the drug off receptors in the body. It lasts for 30 to 90 minutes. It can be administered to anyone and has no effect if the person is not overdosing.

Training sessions are quick and simple.

At the March session at Blaisdell, two staffers conducted training, outlining the steps on how to administer naloxone. You rub your knuckles along a user's sternum to make sure they're unconscious, call 911, breathe into the unconscious user's mouth, then administer the naloxone nasal spray.

A video further demonstrated what naloxone is and how to administer it. The session concluded with a quiz to reiterate the material.

Trainees were invited to break open a kit themselves in front of the group, sliding the plastic container containing the medication into the barrel, screwing in the plastic cap and spraying the naloxone in the air.

The kits, handed out at the end of the session, come in blue nylon bags. They contain two doses of naloxone, rubber gloves, instructions, and a rescue breathing face shield, which prevents direct contact with a person's mouth, nose and face. Some kits come with a syringe and naloxone separately; the shot can be given anywhere on the body to the same effectiveness.

Everyone at the training gets a certificate of completion and a doctor's prescription allowing those trained to administer the medication.

Plenty signing on

So far, 44,000 people — from first responders to medical professionals to the average citizen — have been trained to use naloxone, and it has been used to save 1,250 lives, according to the state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS).

"The current heroin epidemic makes it more important than ever for everyone to receive naloxone training. This life-saving treatment is easy to use and can reverse an overdose in seconds, saving a life," said OASAS Commissioner Arlene Gonzales-Sanchez.