SCHENECTADY

City to host Narcan training

Session comes in response to recent overdose deaths

BY TED REMSNYDER The Daily Gazette
 
 With Schenectady currently experiencing an opioid overdose epidemic, during which eight people have died in eight days, the county and New Choices Recovery Center are partnering to host a free Naloxone training session tonight at Karen B. Johnson (Central) Library.
 
 The tutorial will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. in the library’s McChesney room, with attendees set to learn about overdoses and how to administer Narcan, a commonly used brand of Naloxone, an anti-overdose nasal spray.
 
 “They’ll learn when to administer Narcan, the steps in the process of how to identify an overdose and what to do after they administer the Narcan,” said Haleigh Snare, overdose prevention coordinator at New Choices Recovery Center. “They’ll also receive a Narcan kit for free.”
 
 The event was organized in response to the rash of eight overdoses recorded in the city between July 1 and July 8, with Schenectady police confirming the latest deadly incident after an unidentified victim was found dead in the Stockade neighborhood Saturday. A subsequent autopsy determined that intoxication by drugs was a factor in the victim’s death.
 
 Snare said, in light of the recent opioid overdoses, educating the public on how to combat overdoses is critical.
 
 “I think that the more people that have the knowledge and the access to save a life, the better,” she said. “Narcan enables anyone to save someone’s life, so I think it’s beneficial for everyone.”
 
 Snare said the group will be bringing approximately 100 Narcan kits to the training session tonight.
 
 “I’d love more people to turn out than not,” she said. “We’ve had mass-Narcan trainings in the past and I also conduct them continually on an individual basis at community events.”
 
 Snare said the organization will also be at the Schenectady County SummerNight event this Friday night in downtown Schenectady, with Narcan available to the public.
 
 Four suspected fatal overdoses took place in the city between July 1 and July 3, with police confirming two additional suspected overdoses on July 6. “Naloxone is a life-saving medication that helps reverse opioid overdoses,” Schenectady Police Chief Eric Clifford said Wednesday. “We encourage opioid users and their family and friends to attend the training and learn more about how it can help.”
 
 In a statement released Tuesday, Schenectady police said that the department believes that the string of overdoses that have claimed lives in the Mont Pleasant, Hamilton Hill, Bellevue and Northside neighborhoods have resulted from a combination of substances including heroin, cocaine, fentanyl and xylazine.
 
 Fentanyl test strips are available by calling the Catholic Charities/Project Safe Point at 1-866-930-4999 or the Alliance for Positive Health at (518) 346-9272, ext. 3213.
 
 “Each of these overdoses have left a wake of sadness and anger throughout our community,” the department statement noted. “The victims have been from right here in Schenectady, and from outside of the area.”
 
 Police are seeking information regarding the drug overdoses via its public tip line at 518-788-6566.
 
 “Though these incidents are devastating to our community, there are ways you can help by not only providing tips for our investigators, but also learning more about overdoses and what we can all do to help prevent them,” the police statement said.
 
 The police department’s Schenectady Cares Program assists residents in connecting with addiction services throughout the region, with representatives available at
 
(518) 630-0911 and walk-in services provided.
 
 According to the agency, the initiative has assisted 70 individuals who have walked into the department seeking assistance, with the police department also referring over 1,000 individuals who have experienced non-fatal overdoses to community partners, including New Choices and local Catholic Charities.
 
 The county and New Choices reacted nimbly to the current overdose crisis to schedule the event tonight on short notice.
 
 “We work together a lot on these matters, so we have a very close ongoing relationship in responding to our community’s needs,” Snare said.
 
 For more information on tonight’s event, residents can contact New Choices Recovery Center at 518-645-8881. Individuals in need of 24/7 assistance related to drug addiction can contact the New York State Office of Addiction Services and Supports at 1-877-846-7369.
 
Contact Ted Remsnyder at tremsnyder@dailygazette.net. Follow him on Twitter at @TedRemsnyder.