Fitchburg Man Saves Life Just Days After Learning How To Use Narcan
FITCHBURG (CBS) – A Fitchburg man saved a woman's life just days after learning how to use Narcan.
As the Fitchburg Public Library's maintenance man, Alfred Rivera knew it was only a matter of time until a heroin overdose came to his doorstep.
Rivera asked his boss for the training after seeing the opioid epidemic in the area.
"I seen things are getting worse out here," Rivera says.
Last Wednesday, he learned how to administer nasal Narcan, the opioid antidote.
Lauren Saunders of LUK provides free training. "You have the ability to get trained in Narcan it takes a half hour and you can save someone's life with this simple tool," she says.
Just 48 hours later, Rivera was heading home from work when he pulled into the drive-thru line at McDonald's.
"I'm waiting for my food at the window and I look inside and hear people screaming 'overdose, overdose,'" he says.
When he ran inside, he found a woman sprawled on the bathroom floor. He helped with CPR and took out his Narcan.
"At the beginning I didn't hear nothing, no pulse no nothing, so I was afraid a little bit and I said to myself like everybody does, will it work or not?" he says.
The Narcan did work, and arriving paramedics administered a couple more doses.
"When I went home that's when I like started getting shaky," Rivera said. "But it worked, I gave life to somebody."
For Alfred, the lesson is simple: Put Narcan training on your to-do list right next to CPR, but that's not all. "I hope this is a lesson to that person to be careful, get into a program and fix yourself up," he says.
Alfred says from now on, no matter what he is doing, the Narcan will remain in his pocket.
In most cases, Narcan training is free through community health centers, then for a small co-pay, you can get a dose of nasal Narcan to carry around.