String Of Heroin Overdoses Prompts Nonprofit's Emergency Training Sessions
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Five people in Hennepin County overdosed on heroin Thursday, according to a group battling overdoses and addictions.
That prompted the Steve Rummler Hope Foundation to host emergency training Saturday. The group is trying to raise awareness of a medication -- available to anyone in the Twin Cities -- that can reverse the effects of an overdose.
"You get two doses," said RN Star Selleck.
Selleck is volunteering her time to help others save lives, and it's a cause close to her heart. Six years ago she found her 19-year-old son Ian on her kitchen floor, pink and hot. He had overdosed on heroin.
"I knew he needed Narcan," she said. "I call 911, the first responder -- police -- showed up, and I yelled 'He needs Narcan!' and he said, 'I don't carry Narcan.'"
This training is the front line of defense for people who know someone or have loved ones fighting addiction.
"We're trying to get out in front of what might be some very, very deadly heroin that is in our community right now," the foundation's vice president Lexi Reed Holtum said. "On Thursday night we were informed that five people over dosed in one hour."
Holtum says they learned of the cases early Friday and immediately set up emergency training sessions.
"We know that those five people were able to make it to the hospital, so somebody with them cared, didn't abandon them, got them to the hospital and got them the help that they need," she said.
Reed Holtum says when someone overdoses on heroin what happens to them is they literally forget to breathe.
"This is something that can provide hope," she said. "This is a tool that everyone can have its really easy to use," Holtum said.
Naloxone gives you directions on how to use it effectively.
"Steve's law allows for every single citizen in Minnesota to carry and administer naloxone in good faith to save a life," Holtum said.
Steve's law also protects users who call 911 and stay with friends who have overdosed. They won't face prosecution for possessing or using drugs.
Confirmation on the five overdoses will come from medical personnel after the BCA runs tests to confirm if heroin was involved. To learn more, go to www.StevenRummlerHopeFoundation.org.
