Fire company to host educational seminar on Narcan

Event scheduled for Monday evening at the Sadsburyville Fire Company

Sadsburyville Fire Company No. 1 will be hosting a “heroin and Narcan” seminar Monday to educate the public about Naloxone, an overdose intervention drug.

The free seminar at 7 p.m. on Monday is open to the public and will be held at the fire station at 24 First Ave.

Leo Scaccia, director of Brandywine Hospital’s Medic 93, is one of the speakers presenting. He has more than 30 years of experience and training on this topic. Event organizers said the speaker will focus on the current trends and misconceptions of who is using these drugs.

The seminar speakers will also discuss the signs and symptoms that would prompt the use of Narcan. All speakers are Narcan administration certified. Public testimony will be permitted.

Sadsburyville Battalion Chief Erik Brecht helped organize the educational seminar.

“We’re hosting this seminar because we are all about educating the public on safety,” Brecht said.

Brecht recalled a recent incident when he assisted the police who administered Narcan and the individual began breathing better. He assisted the ambulance crew with the patient who was transported to the hospital. One sign of an opioid overdose is slowed or irregular breathing.

Brecht said he did not have a Narcan kit, which the local police carry. All Chester County police departments have permitted their officers to carry Narcan in an effort to save lives that would otherwise be lost to an overdose. The Good Samaritan Law, passed in 2014, allows first responders to carry Narcan. Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a drug that temporarily reverses the symptoms of an opioid overdose.

Painkiller addictions and overdoses have impacted people nationwide, including in the Philadelphia region.

“Hours after being home, I decided that more education was needed on this social epidemic,” Brecht said, who has been an EMT for 32 years.

According to the American Addiction Centers, three commonly prescribed opioid medications are Vicodin, OxyContin, and morphine. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website states that opioids—primarily prescription pain relievers and heroin—are the main driver of overdose deaths. Opioids were involved in 28,647 deaths in 2014, according to the CDC.

Ethan Healey, of West Chester, joined Good Fellowship Ambulance and became an EMT. In an interview with the Daily Local News, he said after having friends whose siblings passed away from drug overdoses, he started Project Naloxone in Chester County a few years ago at 17.

The seminar sponsor, Servpro of Kennett Square, will provide food and beverages. For more information, contact the Sadsburyville Fire Company at 610-857-9332 or email info@sfc31.com.

“We’re hosting this seminar because we are all about educating the public on safety . ... More education was needed on this social epidemic.” — Battalion Chief Erik Brecht, Sadsburyville Fire Company No. 1

Visit Daily Local News staff writer Ginger Rae Dunbar’s blog about journalism and volunteering as a firefighter at FirefighterGinger.blogspot.com.