CSBH Campaign To Increase Naloxone Availability Underway

Community Solutions for Behavioral Health (CSBH) is in the middle of a campaign aimed at dramatically increasing the availability of naloxone, the medicine used to reverse opioid overdoses, on Nantucket — a campaign that could save dozens of lives.

“We can get to zero deaths and that's our goal. No one should die of a drug overdose,” said Rosemary McLaughlin, CSBH’s Executive Director. “One is too many.”

Nantucket saw four opioid overdoses last year according to state numbers, and while state numbers indicate annual opioid overdose deaths on the island have remained between zero and four since 2013, McLaughlin believes that is likely an undercount. And even if it’s not, she has her sights set on that number being a consistent zero, a goal she believes is “absolutely possible.”

Naloxone, often referred to by the brand name Narcan, is extremely effective at treating opioid overdoses and is harmless when used on someone who is not overdosing. But when CSBH began its push to expand access to the medication by distributing naloxone kits to various local organizations, it was only available at the local pharmacies and Health Imperatives. For McLaughlin and her organization, that wasn’t enough.

“Anything we can do that's evidence-based, that's harm reduction, we should do,” McLaughlin said.

CSBH has already completed a training with the Family Resource Center and is working with the Chamber of Commerce to get naloxone into local businesses like restaurants, where it can be more easily accessed in an emergency. They are also holding an education event on August 29th at 5 p.m. at the Family Resource Center to teach the public how to properly use the medicine.

The kits CSBH is distributing include oxygen masks, in case an overdose victim needs help breathing. They also include educational tools and information about treatment, though McLaughlin emphasized that not everyone who needs naloxone may want treatment and that naloxone is a “no judgment intervention” that doesn’t come with any lectures or recovery requirements. Additionally, not all opioid overdoses are the result of an addiction.

“An overdose can happen to anyone. It can be a first-time user,” she said. “You can have a situation where someone has prescription opioids but their kid takes them by accident or they take too many. We should have Narcan available, just like an EpiPen.”

Good Samaritan laws also protect anyone who calls the police or asks for assistance during a suspected opioid overdose. No one will be prosecuted or face any criminal charges: not the person reporting the overdose, and not the person who overdosed.