SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Canyon Vista Medical Center's (CVMC) Emergency Department is participating in the state's Naloxone Distribution Program. This program provides the public Narcan to take home and have in case they encounter someone who is overdosing.
“Narcan saves lives," said CVMC Chief Nursing Officer, Cosette Britton. "That’s the plain and simple fact of it.”
In 2023, the hospital had 126 overdoses come through the emergency room. Amanda Mancini, Director of Emergency Services at CVMC, says Narcan can be the difference between life and death during an overdose.
“When we do get people who have overdosed and have not called 9-1-1 they come in and sometimes they’re in cardiac and respiratory arrest," she said. "So the Narcan would save them to where they wouldn’t go into cardiac or respiratory arrest, and buy them some time to get to the emergency department”
Canyon Vista is the first emergency department in Cochise County to participate in the Naloxone Distribution Program. The Narcan they are giving the public are nasal sprays, where the drug is administered through the nose. Britton says this program can help save lives, especially for high school and college students.
“There’s kids and high school students and college students that think they’re taking maybe something and it’s something else — that is has some opioid cut into it illegally and that’s when it’s really dangerous,” she said. “These kids and young adults, they’re opioid naive so they don’t have any tolerance to that medicine or that drug and so that’s really dangerous for them. And that’s really who this Narcan would be beneficial for."
Patients who visit the hospital's ER will be asked if they'd like to take Narcan home through a questionnaire. They will be taught how to use it and what to do to help someone who is overdosing.
“It’s still super important that they call 9-1-1 even if the dose does work because the medication wears off quickly so they could go back into that being unresponsive, unconscious,” Mancini said.
The county has other ways for people to get one of the Narcan kits, which has two doses in it. They also have resources for those with addiction and family members of an addict.
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Alexis Ramanjulu is a reporter in Cochise County for KGUN 9. She began her journalism career reporting for the Herald/Review in Sierra Vista, which she also calls home. Share your story ideas with Alexis by emailing alexis.ramanjulu@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook.
