News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
The White County Anti-Drug Coalition is looking for community partners to help host overdose prevention training.
Regional Overdose Prevention Specialist Suzanne Angel said many traditional partners for this training have been concerned about hosting during the pandemic. However, Angel said there are many ways they can set up training to keep people safe.
“They are worried, they maybe don’t have a large enough space,” Angel said. “We can do it drive-thru, we have a little popup tent. We can do it in a parking lot. We’ve had partners at grocery stores, pharmacies, Head Start organizations.”
Angel said this training program is called Tennessee Save a Life, and focuses on administering the overdose reversal drug called Naloxone. She said hosting this training provides a service that can only save a life and will never hurt someone.
“We need people in the community to know how to do this,” Angel said. “It’s just like learning the Heimlich maneuver, CPR, water safety.”
Angel said when they provide this training there is always someone who has seen an overdose happen. She said one large hurdle for this training is getting the community to understand that overdose can happen to anyone, not just those suffering from drug addiction.
“We’ve been given a gift, that there is a medication when given and administered in time, can reverse this temporarily until medical help can get there,” Angel said. “It’s really important because three minutes without oxygen you start to have central nervous system damage. In five to six minutes you can have death, people need to have a plan before hand and it’s really simple to do.”
White County community members can reach out about providing a hosting place by calling the White County Anti-Drug Coalition at (931)-837-5000. Angel said there are no wrong fits for hosting.
