Next time you are shopping at your local farmers market or strolling with the family at a street fair, don’t be surprised if you run into the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) conducting a training with Narcan (Naloxone). The Long Island agency has implemented a new way of reaching out to the public by training and dispensing Narcan, the lifesaving antidote to opioid overdose, in locations frequented by the public.

Suffolk County, Long Island, a county of 1.5 million residents,^[1]https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/suffolkcountynewyork reported 412 opioid intoxications in 2023, including 25 cases still pending final clearance. In 2022, figures showed 423-plus opioid overdoses, with 13 pending. The majority of deaths in 2023 — 453 and 436 in 2022 — were linked to fentanyl.^[2]The numbers entered were from the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office Opioid, Novel Psychoactive Substance, and Other Illicit Substances Accidental Intoxication (“Overdose”) Report … Continue reading

Opioid overdoses are now the leading cause of death for people 18 to 45 years old.^[3]https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/03/fentanyl-opioid-epidemic/

“If not for the pandemic, this would be the public health emergency of our lifetimes,” New York City Medical Examiner Dr. Jason Graham says.”^[4]https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/20/nyregion/sudden-deaths-overdoses-fentanyl-nyc.html

According to SCPD Emergency Medical Services Officer Jason Byron, who leads the department’s Narcan training program, last year, the SCPD conducted more than 65 community trainings, dispensing more than 3,400 dose units of the opioid antidote.

Previously, the department’s outreach model asked people to come to a school or community hall for a Narcan training session. But lately, the SCPD has found great success in training and dispensing Narcan by meeting the public where they are, whether it be at a pizza store, a farmers market, a summer street fair or one of the many events held by families to honor their loved ones lost to the opioid and fentanyl crisis.

“In the past, most of the training was geared to educating the public that we have an opiate issue in our country, state or county,” Byron says. “With the elimination of this, due to the increase in public awareness now, we can focus on the emergency treatment and post-care associated with opiate intoxication and substance abuse issues.”

This summer, Byron worked with the SCPD’s Behavioral Health Section (BHS) and Community Relations Bureau (CRB) and several mothers who had lost children to the overdose epidemic and set up shop at seven “Live at 5” street fairs throughout the county. The table space was donated by each hosting village.

The first street fair, located on Main Street in Patchogue, New York, was the testing ground. The team was surprised when, just several hours into the event, they depleted their supply of 200 Narcan kits and had to run back to the office to replenish with 100 more.

Throughout the summer, Byron and his team trained an average of 300 people at each street fair event, who all left with a Naloxone kit containing two doses of the antidote.

“What makes our program so successful is the collaborative effort between law enforcement, health/mental health educators/providers and community leaders/advocates,” Byron says. “Collaboration starts with the community advocate; from there, our Community Relations Bureau, in coordination with emergency medical training staff from the police academy, will customize the training to fit the needs of the community in the correct setting. This can be lectures, tabletop discussions or wellness booth-type education and training. During our booth-type trainings, emergency medical training officers will only have a few minutes to dispense important information regarding the lifesaving medication Naloxone. CRB officers will be able to talk to individuals in crowds to encourage them to be educated on the dangers of opiates and take an overdose prevention kit. Having the SCPD BHS on site during events provides the public with many resourses, including mental health referrals, substance use referrals and juvenile referrals. BHS continues to provide support to patrol functions with programs such as telehealth, call diversion, academy training and community precinct events.

“That number of people who were willing to take the five minutes out of their day to learn about opioids, fentanyl and the overdose epidemic was impressive,” Byron continues. “Most people are crunched for time, and they don’t always want to commit to an evening out at school or the firehouse to be trained. It’s also much more personal this way when people are trained in very small groups. They are more liable to ask questions that they might hesitate to ask in a large group.”

In addition to the Narcan training, mothers who had lost children to the opioid crisis worked alongside the police, allowing grieving parents to paint rocks with their child’s name on them. These rocks were later placed in a memorial park.^[5]https://www.newsday.com/news/health/fentanyl-laced-drugs-overdoses-long-island-gqks7sum Throughout the summer, more than 60 people stopped by the memorial rock table to write their loved one’s name on a rock, a staggering number that illustrates the heart-breaking reach of the opioid crisis.

As a Suffolk County mother who lost my son to heroin/fentanyl poisoning in 2018,^[6]https://patch.com/new-york/threevillage/li-mom-shares-pizza-slices-drug-addiction-awareness-sons-birthday I came up with the idea for the small-group training.

I planned a memorial birthday event for my son’s 35th birthday at his favorite pizza store in Stony Brook, New York, and gave away free pizza to 100 people. The SCPD set up Narcan training right in the store. Nearly 50 people got trained that day and left with Narcan kits. The training event is now in its third year.

Final statistics for the summer street fairs were impressive, according to Byron.

As of September, SCPD has conducted more than 55 Narcan events and dispensed over 6,700 doses of Narcan in 2024.

The department’s BHS also reached out to me and asked for my assistance in reaching the vast number of grieving parents, offering them the opportunity to add Narcan training to any remembrance event they might be planning for their child. Many parents have now incorporated Narcan training with events they hold in memory of their deceased children.

The BHS partners with the Family Service League on three programs aimed at helping to provide people suffering from mental illnesses and/or substance abuse disorders with necessary services. The goal of the program is to free up police resources, reduce the stigma around mental health, de-escalate tense situations and address gaps in behavioral health response.^[7]https://patch.com/new-york/hauppauge/scpd-family-service-league-partner-mental-health-programs

“As law enforcement continues to tackle the opioid epidemic through collaborative investigations targeting narcotics traffickers, it is equally important to aid families impacted by deadly drugs,” Suffolk County Police Acting Commissioner Robert Waring says. “We know Narcan saves countless lives, and it’s vital to have it readily available, as opioid-related emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere. By taking Narcan training on the road, the stigma of addiction is mitigated, resulting in the education of thousands of people and distribution of thousands of Narcan kits. We will continue to work with our community partners to make a positive impact supporting those who are addicted and the families trying to help them.”