MOUNTAIN TOP CARES COALITION

MCC Launches Campaign To Increase Narcan Availability On The Mountain Top

Over the next six months, Mountain Top Cares Coalition (MCC) plans to roll out a multi-faceted campaign to promote awareness of Narcan/Naloxone, the lifesaving medication used to reverse opioid overdoses from drugs such as heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioids. Central to this initiative, is monthly training programs for community members interested in learning how to administer Narcan. 

Putting this lifesaving medication in the hands of our residents will save lives.
Together with law enforcement, EMT’s, health care providers and others, we can make a difference and help those with opioid use disorder (OUD) recover and reclaim their lives.

To ensure access to Narcan, MCC has placed “Narcan Boxes” at key locations and “hot spots” throughout the twelve mountain top communities so that the drug is readily available when needed.

Narcan/Naloxone is a medication designed to reverse opioid overdose rapidly. It is an opioid antagonist—meaning that it binds to opioid receptors in the brain and can change and block the effects of other opioids. It can quickly restore normal respiration to a person whose breathing has slowed or stopped due to overdosing with an opioid such as heroin or prescription medications. 

Narcan/Naloxone is as valuable to the person with OUD as an automatic electronic defibrillator (AED) is to a person with a heart condition. That's why Mountain Top Cares is installing Narcan boxes throughout our community. Using identifiable stations, much like an AED mounted on the walls of a store, any person can find and administer Narcan/Naloxone.

In 2018 Greene County, NY, was identified by the National Institutes of Health's HEALing Communities Study, in collaboration with Columbia University, as a community with a high incidence of opioid-related overdoses and deaths. Greene County received funding to provide training and local initiatives to reduce opioid deaths by 40% over the next three years. 

The grant could not have come at a more opportune time, as the novel coronavirus, which has hurt so many, has had a particularly devastating impact on those who use drugs and are struggling in recovery. Overdoses and death have surged since the state-wide shutdown. 

Beginning in April 2020, the number of overdoses increased dramatically as the economy shutdown; thankfully, due to the efforts from local agencies such as Mobil Crisis and Greener Pathways with support from the HEALing Communities Study, there was increased Narcan/Naloxone distributed to those at risk. While overdoses did increase, deaths did not grow at the same rate due to this lifesaving medication. 

Join Us

Watch for our announcements and be trained to use Narcan. We will soon be asking for volunteers to help install and maintain the “Narcan Boxes.” If you wish to help in our effort, desire training, or want more information contact us at naloxone@mountaintopcarescoalition.com