Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service is leaving potentially life-saving tools at homes and other places where they respond to an opioid overdose.
The Leave Behind kits contain items and information that could help family or friends deal with a future opioid overdose. The most important item: the overdose reversal drug naloxone, usually referred to by the brand name Narcan.
In late January, a Kennedy High School student who overdosed on counterfeit Percocet pills laced with the deadly drug fentanyl was revived with Narcan administered by school staff before first responders arrived.
Avital Graves, manager of MCFRS’ Mobile Integrated Health program, says timing is everything when it comes to reversing an overdose.
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“It has two doses of Narcan in it,” she said about the kits. “Each one is single administration. It also is going to have a face mask and gloves for the person to wear. It has resources for how to connect people to assistance after an overdose. And it also has fentanyl test strips in it that are available for use if you want to check what you are consuming.”
Graves says anyone can administer a dose of Narcan.
Maryland’s Good Samaritan Law protects people from prosecution for certain crimes if they are providing assistance to someone experiencing an overdose.
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MCFRS has given out more than 500 Leave Behind kits so far.
