The fda recently made it easier
for people to obtain a powerful
overdose reversing medicine
called naloxone.
The drug previously required a
prescription but soon will be
sold over-the-counter.
Many communities are already
successfully using it to fight
the tide of overdose deaths.
With support from the pulitzer
center and in collaboration with
the global health reporting
center, William brangham reports
from upstate New York as part of
our series.
>> The tiny town west of
Syracuse.
The crowd is cheering on the
home team and point guard Julia
Wilson.
That is Julia's mom.
On the court, Julia is cool
under pressure and not just on
the court.
She proved last summer.
-- As she proved last summer.
>> Something is happening at the
neighbors house.
I figured he was messing with me
so I was like, very funny.
I think there is an overdose.
So I looked out the window and I
can see this man laying on the
floor in the shed and I can see
two people trying to do cpr on
him.
>> Many people would freeze but
Julia had learned what to do in
this situation.
>> I run back into my room,
grabbed my narcan kit.
>> It is a nasal spray version
of naloxone that can reverse an
overdose of heroin, fentanyl, or
other opioids if given in the
first critical stretch of time.
>> This man is just laying here.
He's not talking.
He's not responded -- responding
at all.
I checked to see if he has a
pulse.
He didn't.
And so, I grab one of my gloves
and just wrapped it around the
narcan and I just put one dose
in his nose.
He still was not breathing.
I started to perform cpr.
My dad got the other package of
narcan out and then I stopped
and I put in the other dose.
>> When he comes around and
opens his eyes, what was your
response?
>> It was kind of just like --
all I could think was wow.
>> Julia learned what to do in a
health class called bones,
bodies, and bandages.
The class was taught then as it
is today by Donna.
>> This is a skill and kids love
hands-on things so this is just
one other avenue to keep
yourself healthy or to be able
to help a friend.
If you know that you can do
something to help somebody and
you can get this scale, do it
because otherwise, you are going
to feel bad that you did not
help.
>> The overdose epidemic touches
every part of the country but
rural areas have special
challenges.
Like fewer providers who treat
people with substance use
disorders and long wait times
when people call for help after
an overdose.
That underscores the importance
of narcan.
>> That whole idea of having
narcan on you, in your purse, in
your car, that is something we
stressed over the last three
years.
>> She is the director of
the county's program to fight
overdose and addiction.
>> It is still important for
first responders to come and
have that follow-up care.
Those few minutes are really
important and it's even more
critical in rural areas where
it's not just a few minutes
until first responders arrive.
>> The push to distribute narcan
was funded until recently by a
federal study called healing
communities which poured money
into sites in four states.
>> I will check the boxes.
>> The pied piper is wally
Myers.
They teach overdose prevention
to anyone who will listen.
>> Push the red button.
You wait three minutes.
911 will be on the phone with
you.
There's two doses in the box and
don't administer another dose
until three minutes.
Stay out of trouble.
>> Myers tries to make sure
government buildings and private
businesses have narcan kits on
the wall.
They are free, available to
anyone who opens up the box.
Two of those per box and when
someone goes into one of the
boxes, they are supposed to take
the whole thing.
A lot of times, you need more
than one.
>> A lot of times, it seems as
though it doesn't work.
Seven.
Seven for me.
I have been in recovery for 10
years but sober for 6.5 years.
I relapsed, overdosed on
fentanyl.
Seven doses of narcan bring me
back.
>> Haunted demons of his own, he
is fighting to give other people
the same second chance that he
got.
>> I sniff two lines and I stood
up and I fell over and I bounced
my head off of the stand, rolled
in the closet.
I called 911.
Basically saved my life.
>> When cuyahoga county started
this program two years ago, none
of these boxes were on the wall.
None.
Plus 188 of them.
>> All told, they have put more
than 3000 narcan kits into the
community.
At least 113 people here have
been revived by a bystander with
narcan and since 2020, even as
fatalities hit new highs all
over the country, in this rural
county, they are down by a
stunning 43%.
It is not just narcan.
The program encourages doctors
to treat people using
medications that reduce physical
cravings.
It is called medication assisted
therapy.
>> There is a lot of science
behind that that medications for
opioid use disorder have really
proven to be a good way to get
people on the path to recovery.
>> Federal funding paid for a
doctor who wrote the
prescriptions but that money ran
out in January.
>> We are relying on our local
providers.
It is hard.
Because places are overrun.
It's really hard to get somebody
in the same day.
>> In downtown Auburn in the
shadow of the prison that once
housed the country's first
electric chair is a place called
mix right -- Nick's ride.
The scene in the basement is
jarring.
They call it combat recovery.
Up in front, firing them up, is
a former mma fighter named Randy
Smith.
>> I cannot let my guard down.
I dropped my hands, one good
shot on the jaw's gonna put me
on the mat.
Same thing in recovery.
>> Smith ended up here, after
developing a fierce addiction to
painkillers.
He is what they call a peer
counselor, offering moral and
practical support to people who
are just starting their
recovery.
Alt
-- starting their recovery.
>> The mark of a true champion
as whether you get knocked down
or unless whether you get back
up.
>> Afternoons find Smith in the
basement with his crew, many in
recovery from substance use,
others just looking for a good
workout.
Most mornings find Smith at the
local jail.
He was once an inmate here.
>> When I was here, it was
during covid and I had to
quarantine right there for 14 or
15 days.
>> Now he's leading a woman's
, support group.
Nationwide, women in rural areas
are more likely to die of an
overdose than women in cities.
Randy knows the challenge is
keeping people alive long enough
that they can find their way to
a new path and that takes
everybody pitching in.
>> I kind of just keep it right
here.
Bonnie: -- >> In fact, just a
few months after her first save,
Julia had to grab the narcan
again.
This time it was someone close
to her family, and this time,
they didn't make it.
>> I'm really sorry.
It's horrible.
>> Thank you.
>> I mean, you know you did
everything you could possibly.
>> Yeah.
And I've had a couple of people,
I don't know if you know wally,
maybe.
He's reached out, he's always
checking in on me every couple
of weeks.
I definitely have support when I
need help.
Flex in the fall, Julia will
head off to study nursing, at a
joint program with suny upstate
medical university, lending her
hand yet again, to try and heal
the troubled world around her.
For the pbs newshour, I'm
William brangham, in cayuga
county, New York.
♪♪