TUCSON, Ariz. — The Tucson Fire Department is expanding their efforts to cut down on the number of people who die from opioid overdoses. As part of their outreach efforts, firefighters are joining forces with Tucson Police, workers from the Pima County Health Department and voluteers from homeless advocacy groups, to give out hundreds of boxes of Narcan.
"We offer them Narcan, we offer them education and explain to them how this can save a life," said Oscar Derazo, the community risk reduction manager for Tucson Fire.
As part of their final outreach event of the year, a large group met up on the south side of town, near I10 and 6th, to target one of the hardest hit areas when it comes to overdoses. They went door to door to businesses, giving out Narcan and explaining what it does and how to use it. For the first time, they also connected with people who are homeless, to directly give them Narcan as well.
Derazo says when it comes to outreach, no one is off limits, because you never know when you or someone you know might overdose, and need narcan.
"It could be children picking up something from the floor, they get into the medicine cabinet, or it could be elderly that didn't remember that they've taken their pain medication already and they double dose," Derazo explained. "This can happen to anybody, so the more it's readily available, the easier is to try to hopefully save a life."
A few miles away from where these latest outreach efforts took place, we stopped by the City Cuts Barbershop, at 12th and Ajo. Last year, some firefighters came to the shop as part of a different outreach event, and offered them Narcan. The owner, Tony Martinez, said at first he was hesitant to accept it, but he quickly ended up grateful that he had the box on hand.
"I didn't think I'd ever use it, and I had to use one the next day after he left it. This homeless guy passed out in front my shop," Martinez said. "I just went out there and asked him if he was okay, and he wasn't coherent. So I turned around and just grabbed the Narcan and used the Narcan. He came back. The guy got up and walked away."
Back in November, we shared a similar story, when two employees at Sky Island Smoke and Vape saved a man's life on the east side of Tucson.
But Derazo says it's not that more people are overdosing. He says if anything, the numbers are actually going down. The reason we're hearing about this more, is that after years of making Narcan more available, we're just starting to see its impact.
"Unfortunately, they're still way too high. We're still going to way too many overdose calls," he said. "We're at least trying to save a life."
Firefighters say they would like to see a box of narcan in every business and every home, just in case.
To get one, you can reach out to the Pima County Health Department and learn more information by clicking here.
