'Being smart on crime' leading to downtrend of overdoses
TUNKHANNOCK, WYOMING COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)— A local community is doing its part to combat the opioid epidemic by handing out a potentially life saving drug Narcan.
It's a medication that counteracts the effects of opiate related overdoses.
Wyoming County District Attorney Joe Peters, along with his community awareness group, set up shop in Tunkhannock in an effort to get this potential life-saver in as many hands as possible.
For years, Wyoming County has been putting up a fight against the opioid epidemic through community events like this one.
DAs share crime trends in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties
The anonymous drive-through event hopes get Narcan in the hands of as many residents as possible, something District Attorney Joe Peters calls being 'smart on crime'.
'We just want to get Narcan out there. It's like a fire extinguisher. There's one in every building because, you're not trying to encourage a fire, you're trying to have something there to stop the fire,' said District Attorney Peters.
Inside the kits, Narcan and instructions on how to administer it.
Narcan is a nasal form of the drug naloxone. It binds with opioid receptors in the brain to reverse the effects of an overdose. The drug is not harmful to the user.
'That's the magic and the miracle of this drug,' expressed District Attorney Peters.
While opioid related deaths are on the downtrend here in Wyoming County, District Attorney Joe Peters says distribution events like this one are crucial to continuing the fight against opioid abuse.
One woman attending the event tells me she lost her brother to a fentanyl overdose only a few years ago. She says she wishes resources like these could have been available then.
'I think not only being aware that this, you know, is in our communities, this fentanyl, but being knowledgeable that there are things like Narcan that can make a difference,' said Mary Scarpa, Tunkhannock.
She says now, she carries Narcan wherever she goes just in case someone needs it.
'If the situation ever occurs that, you know, I can help somebody out then I certainly would like to. It is really difficult to lose somebody to an overdose and so I don't wish that upon anybody,' expressed Scarpa.
Peters says he hopes to have more Narcan distribution events throughout Wyoming County in the future.
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