Local EMT Offers Advice On NARCAN Use
BUCKS COUNTY, PA (CBS) -- As governments large and small work to contain the opioid epidemic, emergency medical technicians and first responders are on the front lines.
Andrea Martin is an EMT with the Bucks County Public Training Center for EMS and Fire.
"Bucks County ranks number one in the nation for the opioid epidemic. We have, not just kids, anywhere from young kids all the way up to older adults who are all involved in this crisis," Martin said.
She says narcan is effective in bringing back opioid overdose victims. You use a syringe and, Martin adds, it's not always easy.
"There's a certain way nice and slow, you have to administer half in one nostril and half in the other. And if you do it too fast, you can actually take their high away and they can come up swinging and they are very combative, sometimes," Martin explained.
Martin hopes that lay people who are getting narcan from local pharmacies or police departments will get more training, or at least information, about what can happen when reviving OD victims, so they can be prepared.