Rescue kits making a difference in overdoses

750 Narcan kits distributed after 2020 record of 138 deaths

The Mental Health, Addiction and Recovery Services (MHARS) Board of Lorain County has distributed more than 750 Narcan (naloxone) kits in the community in 2021, giving more people the power to save the life of individuals in crisis.

In 2020, Lorain County set a record with 138 individuals dying from drug overdoses in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Jinx Mastney, opioid response outreach coordinator for the MHARS Board, said the numbers are trending in the wrong direction, and locally, they are expecting Lorain County to break another record, making the need for naloxone availability critical.

Two pop-up distribution clinics in June by the Lorain County Opioid Action Team in Lorain and Elyria distributed 365 kits, bringing the total to around 750, with plans to continue distributing.

Each kit is designed as an easy-to-administer nasal spray enabling non medical personnel to intervene and help someone they believe is suffering from a drug overdose.

Mastney pushed back against misconceptions saying naloxone is completely safe and harmless and is designed for emergency situations.

The rescue kits are distributed in partnership with Project DAWN with free training available to anyone who wants to help prevent an opioid overdose death.

With help from a grant funded by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the MHARS Board is taking steps and is setting up community Narcan boxes at two locations in Lorain and Elyria, for safe and easy access to naloxone.

Saving lives

Gus Moore, a native of South Lorain, said after suffering around 10 opioid overdoses, Narcan saved his life.

Moore, 34, is a father of two and has been in recovery for two years.

He said the availability of Narcan in the community has given him the opportunity to be there for his children and to get a fresh start.

Moore said naloxone brought him back each time he had an overdose.

“You never know when that light’s going to go off for somebody,” he said. “Without Narcan being as available as it is, I wouldn’t be here to even talk about it, nor be here, or even tell anybody things that I’ve been doing to try to help in any way that I can.

“So, it’s definitely been very beneficial.”

Moore is a graduate of Lorain County Recovery Court, a special docket providing assistance and guidance to individuals in the community struggling with addiction.

He urged the community to look at the big picture in analyzing why people should carry Narcan and make it as accessible as possible, pushing back against the narrative that it’s an individual problem.

“At the end of the day, no it definitely is your problem, it’s a problem in the entire community and one person can’t fix it,” Moore said.

He said the choice to carry Narcan could save someone’s life five years down the road.

Without that opportunity, “we’re allowing individuals in the community a chance at recovery,” Moore said.

For him, he said he has received his life back tenfold, and Narcan has helped him be a son, brother and father to his children, and to be there to give hope to those still struggling.