Narcan case aims to increase awareness, save lives

Recorder Staff/Tom Relihan Sarah Ahern of Greenfield demonstrates the use of a new Narcan carrying case designed to increase access to the lifesaving overdose reversal medication and reduce the stigma around opioid addiction.

By TOM RELIHAN
For the Gazette
Tuesday, November 15, 2016

GREENFIELD — Minutes matter when a person is experiencing an opioid overdose, and the quicker a person can administer the life-saving medication Narcan, the better are the odds of survival.

Now, one local addiction activist is working with a nonprofit organization that rose out of a recent Opioid Epidemic Hackathon in Boston — We Are Allies Inc. — to develop a field case that will allow people to carry the medication with them without it spoiling, and respond quickly in an emergency.

The bright purple case is designed to be worn outwardly, clipped to a hand bag or belt loop, said Sarah Ahern, the local activist and founder of addiction awareness group End The Stigma.

“The idea is to destigmatize the disease and enlist a community response,” Ahern said.

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