Callaway County fire agencies getting Narcan
Fire departments and agencies in Callaway County are joining the fight against the opioid crisis.
“There’s no more helpless feeling than showing up to help someone and not having the proper tools,” said Holts Summit Fire Protection District Lieutenant Scott Pasley.
The Fulton Fire Department was approved to begin carrying Narcan Tuesday.
Fulton will join the Holts Summit Fire Protection District, Central Callaway Fire Protection District, Millersburg Fire Protection District and South Callaway Fire Protection District in getting Narcan.
“With the high occurance of drug overdoses, it’s just another tool for us to go ahead and provide medical care,” Pasley said.
Each fire agency is getting its Narcan from the Callaway Ambulance District as part of the Missouri Overdose Rescue and Education (MORE) project.
The project gives non-ambulance first responders, such as fire and police departments, Narcan and training to use the opioid-overdose reversal drug.
MORE Project Coordinator Karen Wallace said each first responder that goes through training is given a Narcan kit which contains two doses of the drug.
“If they have that tool in their tool belt, then potentially and hopefully we can save people’s lives,” Wallace said.
The Missouri Department of Health & Senior Services leads the MORE project. It’s funded by a four-year $800,000 federal grant from the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration.
Wallace said the goal is to pay for 5,760 kits of Narcan per year. Since the project’s full implementation last summer, the drug has reversed 54 overdoses and been administered 56 times.
