LYNN, Mass. — Lynn’s Health Director is getting praise in the community after reversing an overdose on the front steps of City Hall.
M.J. Duffy Alexander told Boston 25 News she ran outside with Narcan nasal spray in hand on Tuesday night.
She arrived outside with the life-saving drug just moments after learning about the suspected overdose on city property.
Duffy Alexander said the man was awakened almost instantly after one dose.
She administered a second dose about five minutes later.
“He was not conscious. He was comatose,” she recalled. “I gave the second dose and immediately, within 10 to 15 seconds, he woke up and was trying to sit up.”
The Narcan she used was from the City of Lynn’s free Narcan kit program that started earlier this year.
Anyone can pick up the free kits at Lynn City Hall and receive training during normal weekday hours.
“I do think I saved his life,” said Duffy Alexander. “It’s amazing to see how quickly this drug can work.”
More than 100 kits have been picked up from Public Resource Room #103 inside Lynn City Hall to date.
The city would like to see more kits picked by the public in the future and is offering training at businesses.
“It’s not hard to use,” added Duffy Alexander. “You’re not going to harm anybody by giving Narcan if it’s not opioid related.”
The City’s Health Department believes knowledge about the availability of the kits is especially important as Lynn deals with an uptick of overdoses.
City officials believe the overdoses may be connected to the heat and people not staying hydrated.
In a recent one-week period, Lynn first responders used Narcan to reverse five overdoses involving youth in the community.
“I know they’re important because I’ve been through it. Personally, it saved my life,” said Taryn Delarue.
Delarue told Boston 25 News she’s been battling her addiction for over a decade now.
She described reaching an ultimate low about a year and a half ago when she overdosed.
She said she had Narcan in her pocket at the time.
“If I didn’t have it on me and the people there didn’t use it on me, I wouldn’t have made it,” she explained. “I wouldn’t be here today.”
Delarue credits Narcan with giving her another chance to fight the disease that nearly killed her.
“I’ve been clean 9 months as of yesterday. Thank God for Narcan,” she said. “There’s so many people overdosing right now. We need more proactive leaders like that.”
The kits available at Lynn City Hall contain two doses of four-milligram naloxone nasal spray, a fentanyl test strip and a mouth guard in the event that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is necessary.
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