Not all heroes wear capes. Some of them wear conference lanyards, as an incident that took place outside a conference in Atlanta demonstrates.
This week, Atlanta has played host to the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit, which bills itself as “the largest and most influential event addressing the opioid & addiction crisis.” The conference agenda includes seminars and breakout sessions addressing prevention, treatment, and recovery. Attendees at the conference include medical professionals, counselors, government officials, and first responders.
Some of those first responders saved a man’s life on Tuesday. A group of first responders that the Central Florida Cares Health System and the Brevard Prevention Coalition sent to the summit were standing outside the Georgia World Conference Center, the venue for the summit, when some of them noticed an unconscious man a few steps away.
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Officers from the Cocoa, Fla., Police Department began to administer CPR to the man, but it looked like he wasn’t going to survive. Then one of the officers recognized that the man was suffering from an overdose, and his training kicked in.
The officers attending to the man requested Narcan from the Atlanta Police Department and administered it to the man. Like magic — or more appropriately, like Narcan — it began to work immediately, reviving the man and restoring his pulse and skin color. Atlanta Police thanked the quick-thinking Cocoa Police officers and transported the man to a hospital, where his recovery will continue.
“The moral of the story is that we never know when we will become a ‘first responder’ to an overdose. It’s so important for us to keep getting the word out, so people know the signs of an addiction, and ensure people know what Narcan is and make it more available. Knowing what to do can save a life,” said Stanley Brizz of the Brevard Prevention Coalition in a statement.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the over-the-counter sale of Narcan last year, giving everyday citizens a powerful tool to help save lives. With the increase in overdoses in recent years, people need all the tools they can get.
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Interestingly enough, FDA Commissioner Robert Califf touted the benefits of overdose reversal agents like Narcan in a speech he made at the summit on Monday.
“Another important area of focus is harm reduction through increased access to opioid overdose reversal agents,” Califf said. “No overdose should be fatal. Yet in 2023, more than 112,000 Americans lost their lives to an overdose.”
Califf added that the federal government “can’t solve this alone. That’s why we will continue to work closely with our colleagues across federal, state, and local government to strengthen our enforcement efforts and build partnerships that lead to effective new strategies and solutions.”
God bless the brave men and women of the Cocoa Police Department for going above and beyond to save this man’s life. And let’s pray that the man will seek treatment and recovery after his near-death experience.