Six kits containing naloxone, a drug — brand name Narcan — that reverses the effects of opioids during an overdose when administered via nasal spray, have been placed in the Oneonta City Hall.
During an update from the Community Narcan Initiative Team to the Oneonta Common Council’s Community Wellness Committee on Wednesday, May 1, Kathy Varadi emphasized the need for more training and education on how to administer naloxone, as well as the importance of community involvement in addressing the issue of drug abuse.
“There’s a communication gap and an access gap,” she said. “There’s a stigma about carrying it, about mounting it on your wall, about being a person who knows about it. So our purposes are not only to save lives, which is of course number one, but also to normalize it and destigmatize it, and make it widely available with the education that goes along.”
Varadi said the group has spent $15,000 in the last year on 101 emergency opioid overdose reversal kits called ONEBox, which go for just under $200 each.
The group offers naloxone administration training using the ONEbox kit around the community and Varadi said her goal is to hold a training for the residents of the Dietz Street Lofts.
She said building management has been unresponsive so far to her offer of a training at the Lofts.
“Our entire community is aware that there have been overdoses there, and multiple problems, and that it’s a highly charged situation,” she said. “The tenants are approaching me and saying, ‘Can we get Narcan training so we can save somebody’s life if there’s an overdose?’”
Council member Kaytee Lipari Shue, D-Fourth Ward, said that having the overdose reversal kits is, “good for the overall public safety of our community.”
It could even help emergency responders be more efficient at the scene of an overdose, she said, relaying a recent incident in which she called police with a noise complaint in her neighborhood and was told that all patrols were tied up at the scene of an overdose.
“Obviously, they have to prioritize their time and their efforts,” Lipari Shue said, “but just thinking about the amount of response that is necessary every time this happens, and it’s happening so frequently now.”
The more people who are trained, the better the outcome, Varadi said.
“I promote it to my students all the time,” said Lakisha Mason, SUNY Oneonta Off-Campus & Commuter Student Services director. “I’ve had several Narcan trainings so far. I just think it’s important to see that change and to show that people care.”