Save a Life Day planned in Norwich, Oneonta
Sep. 7—Norwich and Oneonta will join 300 other sites across 13 states to offer free naloxone and the training to use it Thursday, Sept. 14.
Naloxone is a medication with no adverse side effects that works to reverse opioid overdoses, a media release said. One common brand is Narcan, an easy-to-use nasal spray.
The events are part of Appalachian Save a Life Day, a media release said. The 13 states — West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama, South Carolina, Maryland and New York — are all recognized as part of the Appalachian region by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Save a Life Day organizers started in 2020 with a two-county pilot in West Virginia, which then expanded to 17 West Virginia counties in 2021, and last year all 55 West Virginian counties participated. Now, just three years since the effort began in the state with the worst overdose rate, West Virginia-based SOAR is working with more than 150 counties across 13 states.
The overdose epidemic has especially devastated the Appalachian region, the release said. CDC data show that half of the 10 states with the worst overdose rates are a part of Appalachia while Appalachian states lost 40,560 loved ones in 2021, representing 38% of the nation's fatalities that year. According to the CDC website, overdose deaths in New York have increased 7.43% from March 2022 to March 2023.
The local Save a Life Day events will be held from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at The Turning Point at 24 East Main Street in Norwich and at Muller Plaza at Main Street in Oneonta. All attendees will receive one Narcan kit, an in-person training, and information about local resources. Training takes between five and 10 minutes and people can show up any time during the event.
The event in Norwich is sponsored by Drug Free Chenango/Chenango Health Network, with The Turning Point, serving as key partners and site leaders for the event. The event in Oneonta is sponsored by Otsego County Department of Health.
"CHN is excited to partner with FORDO on this event," Kimberly Lorraine, executive director of Chenango Health Network said in the release. "The more opportunities the community has to learn about Narcan, the more we will decrease the stigma people who use drugs face. Everyone is someone's brother, father, cousin or child and deserves a chance to live another day and make a different choice."
A region wide map of events can be found at www.savealifeappalachia.org.
