VICTORVILLE – The City of Victorville in partnership with the Institute of Public Strategies is hosting a Narcan training event, March 6, on Black Balloon Awareness Day. Organizers of the event – a celebration of lives lost to opioid overdose, will also provide a free box of Narcan to help prevent overdose deaths.
Opioid Deaths
According to the National Safety Council, the majority of preventable drug overdose deaths (77%) involve opioids, totaling 75,785 in 2020. Opioid drugs include both prescription and illicit drug categories.
Black Balloon Awareness Day, an annual event held in memory of those lost to overdose, began in 2015 with the family of Greg Tremblay. A father of four, Tremblay died of an overdose when he was 38 years old on March 6, 2015
Narcan reverses effect of opioid medication
The National Institute on Drug Abuse says Naloxone, also known as Narcan, is a medicine that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose. Naloxone can quickly restore normal breathing to a person if their breathing has slowed or stopped because of an opioid overdose.
The Annals of Emergency Medicine published a study in 2017 that found that the mortality of those who receive naloxone by EMS and survive is high.
Death records indicated that 6.5% – 787, died the same day as the documented naloxone administration. 9.3% – 1,132, died within one year and 84.3% – 10,273, were alive at one year.
Narcan can sometimes cause severe opioid withdrawal symptoms that lead to serious heart problems, including heart rhythm problems and heart attack.
Other milder side effects include dry or stuffy nose, pain in the muscles, headache, increased blood pressure and toothache.
Narcan Training Event
The Institute of Public Strategies will provide training and a free box of Narcan to all attendees 18 years and older. The organizers will also release a virtual black balloon to bring awareness to overdose deaths.
The Narcan Training event will be held March 6 at 5:30 p.m. at the Victorville Activity Center located at 15075 Hesperia Rd. in Victorville. For more information on how to RSVP visit https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/CAVICTORVILLE/bulletins/38de1bb
