Queens community receives Narcan kits to combat opioid overdoses

SOUTH OZONE PARK, Queens (PIX11) -- Drug overdose continues to be a public health emergency in New York City. According to statistics from the health department, opioids were involved in more than 87% of overdose deaths.

There were more than 3,000 deaths in the city last year from people overdosing on opioids, most of them from fentanyl.

Alarmed by the rising number of deaths, State Senator Joseph Addabbo of Queens has been conducting training sessions for community residents, teaching them how to save a life if they see someone in the throes of overdosing.

Addabbo is passionate about his mission. "Those 3,000 New Yorkers not here today could possibly be here today if someone had one of these, and now you do," he declared at the opening of the session.

Residents of the South Ozone Park community were provided overdose rescue kits containing Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, an antidote for opioid overdoses that can temporarily reverse the effects of the drug. The medication only works on opioids.

Each kit contains two four-milligram nasal sprays of Narcan, a spray that could be administered to someone who has overdosed.