Preventing overdoses: How 30 Nashville bars are trying to save lives
Whisky Row, the newly opened Frank Sinatra Lounge and other bars along Broadway will be getting naloxone kits, also known as Narcan, the opioid reversal drug beginning Friday.
In total, David Leavitt, operations manager of Solaren Risk Management, a company who supplies security for bars and restaurants along Broadway, will supply 30 kits to Broadway businesses.
Solaren partners with Gibson Gives, a charitable organization of Gibson Guitars through their TEMPO (Training and Empowering Musicians to Prevent Overdoses) program, who is providing the businesses with the kits that cost around $350. Leavitt said TEMPO began putting kits in several music venues across Nashville.
Metro Public Health Department reported 93 confirmed overdose death in 2023 quarter one for Davidson County, with 49 cases pending.
"The annual number of fatal drug overdoses in Davidson County has increased each year from 2016 through 2022," according to MPHD report.
Fentanyl, 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, accounts for approximately 75.3% of overdose-related toxicology reports in 2023, according to MPHD data.
Leavitt said TEMPO is stocked with many kits and will continue proving kits to Solaren for use in bars and restaurants they work security for the foreseeable future.
Leavitt said the kits coming to Broadway is a game-changer.
"I will compare this to having an AED on site for someone who goes into cardiac arrest," Leavitt told the Tennessean.
Response in cardiac arrest is all about timing. Seconds count in saving a life. Leavitt said seconds count in administering aid to someone overdosing on opioids.
Naloxone is a proven anecdote to revive someone from an overdose.
While first responders have naloxone on hand, Leavitt said response to an overdose victims could take time, especially on Lower Broadway often flooded with thousands of visitors.
Leavitt said the kits can be used by everyone. Each box will have two doses.
As soon as you open the box, a brief video plays, showing the person how to administer the nasal spray dose.
For companies looking to train staff, Leavitt said there is a second video providing full training on administering the dose.
Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on Twitter @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Opioid overdose reversal kits coming to 30 Nashville bars
