Charleston Police hosts Narcan training sessions

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - With 150 reported overdose calls Charleston Police have already responded to this year, the agency is hosting eight training sessions designed to help lower the number of overdoses.

Out of these 150 calls, Shelby Joffrion, Charleston Police Department’s project coordinator, says 22% of the victims were already dead. Just over 40% of the remaining cases were given Narcan, which ultimately saved their lives. Narcan is a brand name for naloxone a drug that can treat a narcotic overdose in an emergency.

Joffrion plans to host the training sessions over the next 10 weeks.

She says not every one of these calls were confirmed by toxicology because they don’t test every victim since not every overdose is deadly. About a third of the lives that were saved were from a bystander who already had Narcan on them. She says this is just more of a reason why people across Charleston County need to know how to administer it.

“Addiction is a scary and ugly disease and we’re just doing all that we can to preserve life,” Joffrion said.

In these upcoming training sessions, Joffrion will teach folks about the basics, like what an opioid is, and train them on how to actually administer the Narcan. She will also offer a bit of time at the end to share information on how this epidemic is impacting their jurisdiction and the rest of the county.

“There needs to be a de-stigmatization of using Narcan, of carrying Narcan, of opioid use because it is going on and it hits all demographics,” Joffrion said.

She also says even if Narcan is given, it is still important to go to the emergency room because the Narcan can wear off and one could still have a fatal amount of whatever substance they initially overdosed on in their system and thus, could go back into overdose.

The training sessions are scheduled at the following dates and times:

• Thursday, 6 p.m. - Baxter-Patrick James Island Library
• Aug. 3, 6 p.m. - Bees Ferry West Ashley Library
• Aug. 10, 6 p.m. - Dorchester Road Library
• Aug. 17, 6 p.m. - Keith Summey North Charleston Library
• Aug. 24, 6 p.m. - Hurd/St. Andrews Library
• Sept. 14, 6 p.m. - Otranto Road Library
• Sept. 21, 6 p.m. - Downtown Main Library/Calhoun Street
• Sept. 28, 6 p.m. - St. Paul’s Hollywood Library

Click here to register for one of the training sessions.

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