STOPP Saves Life

I’m very happy to report that a life was saved in Allegany County this week by an overdose responder we trained in the use of intranasal Narcan. The responder had attended one of our Southern Tier Overdose Prevention Program (STOPP) classes and we supplied them with a nasal Narcan overdose kit. Narcan blocks opioid receptors in the brain, giving a person who is overdosing the chance to recover and get the help and treatment they need. We just sent our final report on the STOPP program to the Department of Health. Since March we have provided training in the use of intranasal Narcan to 42 agencies and 411 individuals. STHCS became a New York State-certified opioid overdose prevention program in the fall of 2014. We’re offering training in the use of Narcan and free nasal Narcan kits to the friends and family of those likely to overdose from heroin or prescription opiates such as Oxycodone in Cattaraugus County. We also have a parallel program to offer free Narcan training and nasal Narcan kits to non-EMS firefighters, basic life support first responders and law enforcement in Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties. If you would like to host a training, please contact STOPP Coordinator Traci Reed at (716) 372-0614 or a treed@sthcs.org.

ABCs of Safe Sleep

The Southern Tier Child Health and Safety Team launched a 2015 ABCs of Safe Sleep campaign this month. Educating parents and caregivers about the importance of infant safe sleep environments is a priority of the Office of Children and Family Services, which supports the team. Babies continue to die in New York after being laid down to sleep in unsafe sleep environments. Our campaign features billboards, bench advertising and newspaper ads in Allegany and Cattaraugus counties. The artwork used shows a child sleeping in a safe sleep environment with the ABCs of Safe Sleep – infants always sleep safest alone, on their backs, in a crib. If you know someone who is a new parent or caregiver, please share this message with them. You can also access detailed child health and safety information and recommendations by clicking on the hyperlink to the team's webpage in this article.