Life-saving drug giveaway planned for Overdose Awareness Day
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ALPENA — The head of Alpena's residential drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility can't wait until Tuesday.
"We'll be out there with balloons and a table and a couple posters that say, 'Get your Narcan here,'" said Kathy Freel, who plans to spend four hours of International Overdose Awareness Day — marked worldwide on Aug. 31 each year — handing out a drug that can stop an overdose in its tracks.
Beside a stack of medication-filled boxes in her office at the Sunrise Centre, a facility that houses people trying to break free of their substance use disorder, Freel said she has no idea what to expect at the facility's first naloxone giveaway.
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A drug that can stop the effect of an overdose caused by an opioid, naloxone — often called by the brand name Narcan — can save a life, and anyone can have some for free, Freel said, hoping she runs out of her 150-kit supply of Narcan nasal spray on Tuesday.
Since April, MidMichigan Medical Center-Alpena's emergency department logged 26 visits because of overdoses, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
In the past year, Alpena County emergency room staff handled 21 drug overdose visits by people aged 55 or older and 13 by people younger than 15.
Of the 78 Alpena County overdose emergency room visits since August 2020, more than half were by women.
While local health officials report no deaths by overdose in the past year, nearly 80 people — half in Alpena County — died in Northeast Michigan because of a drug overdose in the past decade, according to the state.
While the naloxone the Sunrise Centre will distribute on Tuesday won't stop non-opioid-related overdoses, it won't hurt if given to someone overdosing on something other than opioids and could save a life, Freel said.
The drug should be in the hands — and the cars, and the first aid kits — of anyone who might encounter someone with a substance use disorder, Freel said, urging teachers, store owners, parents of teens, dentists, and anyone who interacts with the public to find a way to obtain naloxone.
In Northeast Michigan, 19 pharmacies have a standing order for naloxone with the state health department. Since January, health officials, community organizations, and first responders have ordered more than 700 naloxone kits from the state for use or distribution in Alpena County, according to DHHS.
The Sunrise Centre naloxone giveaway comes during the center's spirit week, and employees will give Narcan away in their pajamas, Freel said, enthusing about her hopes for Tuesday's event.
If she runs out of kits, she'll find more, she said — even if it means pulling them from her own glove compartment, where she always keeps naloxone handy in case she encounters someone in danger from an overdose.
"I just figure, I never know," Freel said. "If I see it, and I can save a life, I absolutely will."
Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693 or jriddle@thealpenanews.com. Follow her on Twitter @jriddleX.
If you go
WHAT: Naloxone giveaway
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday
WHERE: Sunrise Centre, 630 Walnut St., Alpena
HOW MUCH: Free
INFO: Anyone may pick up a naloxone kit at the entrance to the Sunrise Centre's parking lot, off of Miller Street.