Saugus FD now carrying Narcan drug

SAUGUS – Saugus firefighters have a new tool in the fight against drug overdoses.Fire Chief Donald McQuaid said a pilot program from the Department of Public Health is now supplying the Saugus Fire Department with Narcan, a drug that reverses the effects of opioid overdoses.?With morphine or heroin or whatever the drug is, the receptors on the brain, the opioid takes the place of where the oxygen should be going. It blocks the oxygen from going into the brain,” said McQuaid. “The Narcan sort of knocks the opioid off the receptors and allows the person to breathe again. They just start breathing.”Narcan is the trademarked name for the drug naloxone. McQuaid said the Narcan is administered nasally in one-milligram doses to each nostril and can work almost immediately.?If they come across someone that they find is an overdose, they start CPR and breathing ? and then in between breaths they can put in the Narcan ?” he said. “Sometimes it will wake somebody right up. But sometimes it may take a second dose. If, after three-to-five minutes, they?re not aroused, we?ll give them a second dose. Each in-service apparatus has the Narcan on board, including the fire prevention car and my car.McQuaid said Saugus was chosen for the program along with several other communities, including Revere, Weymouth, Quincy and Gloucester and noted firefighters were able to use the drug on an overdose call last week, just four days after the start of the program.?They ended up giving a second dose,” said McQuaid. “Our guys gave the first dose because the ambulance hadn?t gotten there yet. When the ambulance got on scene, they wound up giving the second dose and the person woke up.”Firefighter Matt Fowler was trained by the DPH on how to administer the drug and in turn, Fowler has been training his fellow firefighters at the station.Fowler said the Narcan will be a valuable tool for firefighters.?The majority of the department is trained,” said Fowler. “Every piece has at least one to two guys on every shift that are trained. We?re going to finish up and get everyone trained and anyone hired henceforth will also receive training in their orientation.”McQuaid said the firefighters? union and Town Manager Scott Crabtree was “all for” the new program and thanked them for their support, noting that the overdose issue is not just a Saugus problem.?Everyone was really good about cooperating with it,” he said. “It?s a win-win for everybody. It?s nice to be able to help somebody like this and give them a second chance hopefully ? It?s everywhere. It really is. It?s not just Saugus, Revere, Lynn. It can be in anybody?s household.”