PHOENIX — Organizations Valle del Sol and Terros Health worked with the Phoenix Vice Mayor in training people on how to use Naloxone, or Narcan, Monday morning.
Just this year, there have been more than 1,000 opioid overdoses and 189 people have died, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
Monday’s training was focused on teaching people about the dangers of opioids and fentanyl use, as well as educating people on how to use opioid reversal medication.
There’s now a push to train everyday people — and not just first responders — on how to administer Narcan as the US Food and Drug Administration recently made the medication available over the counter.
“Just like the AEDs and CPR, this is the new emerging thing that we need to know. It’s best to have knowledge about this and also it helps us as a community know what’s in our community so we can aid and help them,” said Andre Carver, who attended the training Monday.
Elizabeth Moyer, the director of integrated substance use disorders at Valle del Sol, said they hope more people will have the medication on hand just in case.
“Even if you do not have substances in your home, you never know what's going on outside your home. Sometimes, you don't know what's coming in your home, so just having it on hand is a life-saving measure,” she said.
Recently, the US Drug Enforcement Administration warned about a “sharp increase” in a tranquilizer, xylazine, that’s being mixed with fentanyl. The DEA says this is “the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced.”
The DEA said they’ve seized those mixtures in 48 of 50 states. The mixture of the two puts people at higher risk of suffering fatal drug poisoning.
“People who inject drug mixtures containing xylazine also can develop severe wounds, including necrosis—the rotting of human tissue—that may lead to amputation,” the DEA said in a news release.
Narcan can help in overdoses with this mixture, however, it won’t work too well with xylazine since it’s not an opioid.
“The Narcan will not respond to the xylazine, but a lot of times, because it is cut with fentanyl, you'll be able to reverse the effects of the fentanyl itself, which can then help them to be able to breathe on their own,” Moyer said. “They might still be unconscious due to the xylazine, but you can help with the respiratory. So, providing that immediate care is still extremely important.”
Narcan does cost over the counter at pharmacies, however, Valle del Sol says people can go to their locations at 334 W 10th Pl. in Mesa or 1209 S 1st Ave. in Phoenix to get free kits.
