Save A Life stations in Oakland County receive positive response from public
OAKLAND COUNTY, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) - A few months ago, CBS News Detroit gave you an inside look at dozens of Save A Life stations being spread out across Oakland County.
Recently, Stacie Burns, a Harm Reduction Specialist part of Alliance of Coalitions, the nonprofit behind this initiative, allowed us to tag along to see what the response has been to these resources.
"I ended up getting pills from a friend, which, just like everybody else's story, started with pills that ended up in heroin, and I started to advocate when I got clean off the heroin because I wanted to show people that we do recover," said Burns.
For 11 years, Stacie Burns has been heroin free.
"For me, I believe that an addict always has a chance to recover as long as they have air in their lungs," said Burns.
Now, she's on a mission. Three times a week, she loads up free resources to help those battling substance abuse. The resources include Narcan, an overdose reversal medication that can cost $50 or higher over the counter.
"Our hope is that they will get to a point where they will reach out and need help and get clean and get sober and live the best version of themselves," said Burns.
Back in May, dozens of Narcan stations were spread out across Oakland County as part of an initiative from the Alliance of Coalitions nonprofit.
Burns' role is to take inventory and restock supplies.
One of the stations, outside of a medical center in Royal Oak, is usually wiped clean each week, according to Burns.
RELATED LINK: Narcan stations in Oakland County provide free resources, testing
Reporter: "Was this pretty empty when you showed up?"
Stacie: "It was completely empty. There was no Narcan left, no Xylazine testing strips…we were OK on resources, and our Fentanyl testing strips are down to 50, and we normally keep 100."
To put things in perspective, last week alone, Burns gave out nearly 600 boxes of Narcan throughout the community.
Reporter: "What is it that you have found most surprising?"
Stacie: "Some of the areas that didn't even have not even one box left. Surprisingly, you would think that it's the, you know, inner cities, and that's not the truth."
Across the state so far this year, the nonprofit reports more than 13,000 people who experienced an overdose that were saved by emergency crews.
Though these Narcan stations prove addiction is still very real, it's this kind of positive response the organization hopes to see.
"The people in the community, whether they're actively using or a family member is in recovery, they absolutely love the fact that these machines are out there for the public to just grab and go; we made this little barrier. As a matter of fact, yesterday, when I was in Pontiac, a girl came up to me and literally said that someone had overdosed right down the street, and they went right to the Save A Life station, grabbed the Narcan and reversed an overdose," Burns said.
For Burns, it's personal. Shatter the stigma surrounding addiction...save a life.
"People ask me why I do this, and I always tell them because someone gave me a chance, so now it's my responsibility to give other people theirs too," said Burns.
Officials with the organization say at least 17 more Save A Life stations will be distributed across Oakland County in the next 30 to 45 days.
RELATED LINK: Uptick in use of free Narcan stations in Oakland County