The Florida Department of Health has given the Flagler County Fire Rescue an additional 300 doses of Narcan to administer to patients who have overdosed on opioids. This is the second round of 300 doses of Narcan the county has received from the state.
If the Narcan is administered in time, it can recover a life that is on the brink of an overdose death.
The 300 doses of Narcan is worth $8,565.
“Really, its value is priceless because it saves," Fire-Rescue Chief Don Petito said.
According to Petito, Fire Rescue has administered 166 doses in the last 12 months. That number doesn’t take into account what others, such as the Sheriff’s Office, have administered.
Opioid overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. According to the Department of Health, emergency responders in Florida treated more than 45,000 patients for drug overdoses in 2017.
"This lifesaving drug is being distributed statewide to emergency responder agencies like Flagler County Fire Rescue through the Helping Emergency Responders Obtain Support (HEROS) program," Petito said.