INDEPENDENCE, Mo. — Residents in Independence, Missouri, can receive free boxes of Narcan at distribution events happening this week.
The medication reverses the effects of opioid-related overdoses.
The city’s health department received 1,000 doses of the medication from the Missouri Institute for Mental Health in 2023 and 2024.
Health department leaders said they’ve seen a 26% increase in opioid overdoses for teenagers since 2020.
Fatal overdoses for all age groups nearly doubled in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2019.
“We are very concerned that we have citizens dying in opioid-related overdoses," said Terrell Sage, a public health specialist with the Independence Health Department. "We want to be sure we’re preventing as many of those deaths as possible by equipping people with Narcan.”
Sage said almost anyone can easily administer Narcan to someone suffering an overdose. Giving the medication to someone who isn’t suffering an overdose won’t hurt them.
The Independence Fire Department has equipped each fire truck with a generic form of Narcan for the last two years.
RELATED | Kansas City-area emergency responders participate in joint overdose response training
Battalion Chief Eric Michel remembers administering the medication to someone suffering an overdose last summer. He described the patient as essentially coming back to life.
“People would die without it," Michel said. "It has saved a lot of lives. I’ve witnessed it myself.”
Michel thinks about the ripple effect of saving one person from a fatal overdose.
“Think of all the impact it has on all those family members and all the people who love that person,” Michel said. "It really changes the trajectory of a lot of lives.”
Narcan is available during business hours at the Independence Health Department, 111 E. Maple Avenue.
The city's health department is hosting several distribution events this week.
Thursday, August 22
- 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Mid-Continent Public Library's East Independence Branch, 4505 Little Blue Parkway.
- 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. at Fairmount Community Center, 217 S. Cedar Avenue.
Friday, August 23
- 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Mid-Continent Public Library's North Independence Branch, 317 W. U.S. 24 Highway.
The Kansas City Health Department and the city's public library system also distribute free Narcan.
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