BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
INEZ — Residents in Martin County now have round-the-clock access to Narcan through two newly installed kiosks, one outside the health department in Inez and another at Dempsey Housing in Warfield.
The initiative, led by local nonprofit Thrive Community Coalition in partnership with the Martin County Health Department, Mountain Comprehensive Care and others, offers the overdose-reversing drug for free. A sign on each box reads: “FREE.”
Kayla Storm, Thrive Recover Well program manager, said the kiosks are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
“We’ve all been affected by the opioid epidemic in our communities,” Storm said Thursday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the health department. “This little box could be life or death for someone. Today we have living proof that Narcan does work.”
That proof came in the form of testimony from Shyann May, a Thrive wellness coach who shared her own story.
“I’m here to talk about how Narcan saved my life,” May said. “If it weren’t for Narcan and the good lord above, I wouldn’t be here today. I want to say thank you for bringing me out for ‘Save A Life Day.’ If there is anybody who needs help or needs a shoulder or needs someone to talk to, get a hold of me.”
Rodney Holbrook, a peer support specialist at Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, works with community partners and health departments in Johnson, Martin and Pike counties. He stressed the medication’s singular purpose of binding to receptors in the brain and displacing opioids to stop a potential overdose while it is happening.
“Narcan is a lifesaving medication,” Holbrook said. “I encourage everyone to stop by and pick up Narcan.”
How to use Narcan
1. Identify overdose and check for response
- Ask if the person is okay; shout their name.
- Shake their shoulders and rub the middle of their chest.
- Look for warning signs:
- Unresponsive to voice or touch
- Breathing very slow, irregular, or stopped
- Pupils very small (“pinpoint pupils”)
- Lay the person on their back to prepare for Narcan.
2. Administer Narcan Nasal Spray
- Remove the spray from the box.
- Hold with your thumb on the plunger, two fingers on the nozzle.
- Insert the nozzle gently into one nostril while tilting the head back.
- Press the plunger firmly to deliver the dose.
3. Call for help and monitor
- Dial 911 immediately.
- Place the person on their side (recovery position).
- Watch closely. If there is no response, repeat with a new spray in the other nostril every 2–3 minutes until emergency responders arrive.