Senator Amedore, Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple to Host Community Narcan Training

SENATOR AMEDORE, ALBANY COUNTY SHERIFF CRAIG APPLE
TO HOST COMMUNITY NARCAN TRAINING

Senator George Amedore and Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple will partner with Catholic Charities Care Coordination Services to host an educational heroin forum on Monday, May 18^th at the Guilderland Public Library. 

Beginning at 6:30 pm, attendees will have the opportunity to tour the Albany County Sheriff’s mobile education center to learn about various factors and dangers surrounding drug addiction, ending with incarceration. The unique feature of the mobile education center is that it comes fully equipped with a functioning jail cell.

At 7 pm, a presentation on opiate overdose prevention and response will be given by representatives from Catholic Charities’ Project Safe Point program. Participants will learn how to recognize the signs and symptoms of an overdose, understand the risk factors associated with overdose, and learn how to reverse the effects of an overdose with the drug naloxone (narcan). Trained attendees will be given a kit containing naloxone. 

“We need to do everything we can to combat the heroin epidemic that is devastating our communities, including that as many people as possible are trained and prepared to help if a family member, friend, or loved one is overdosing. A dose of narcan can be the difference between life and death for those who are battling a heroin or opiate addiction. I want to thank Catholic Charities Care Coordination Services and Albany County Sheriff Apple for partnering with my office on this important community event,” said Senator George Amedore

 “We believe our mobile education center drives home the point that if you want to experiment or use drugs as you travel through life, you may end up in a jail cell, or worse, another fatality at the hands of drugs. Albany County Sheriff’s deputies and EMS personnel have all been trained to administer and now carry NARCAN kits, which is an opioid-reversal drug which helps save heroin and opioid users from death by overdose. It’s just another tool in our toolbox to help battle the heroin epidemic plaguing our communities,” said Albany County Sheriff Craig D. Apple, Sr.

“We’re proud to partner with Senator Amedore and Sheriff Apple for this educational forum, as this is an example of how community organizations and elected officials can work together to address this very serious issue. If you or someone you care about uses heroin and/or prescription opiates, this training and the information available could be the difference between life and death,” said Keith Brown, Executive Director, Catholic Charities Care Coordination Services

“We are very pleased to be able to host this event,” said Guilderland Public Library Director Tim Wiles. “Overdoses have become such a problem, and it’s vital that the community knows there’s a way to combat their effects.”

Please RSVP to Senator Amedore’s office at amedore@nysenate.gov if you plan on attending.