(MINEOLA, N.Y.) – Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman announced today that, through a partnership with the Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependency (LICADD), the County will stock AEDs on County property with Narcan kits.
Following today’s announcement, Nassau County Legislators Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D – Glen Cove), Arnold W. Drucker (D – Plainview) and Debra Mulé (D – Freeport), sponsors of the Families Against Fentanyl Law, issued the following statement:
“Amidst the ongoing fentanyl crisis, Narcan is an indispensable component of Nassau County’s efforts to prevent opioid overdoses. We applaud these collaborative efforts to expand public access to this lifesaving antidote,” Nassau County Legislators Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D – Glen Cove), Arnold W. Drucker (D – Plainview) and Debra Mulé (D – Freeport) said. “However, detecting fentanyl before it is consumed is the best way to prevent tragic overdoses for unsuspecting victims.
“Last summer, we introduced the ‘Families Against Fentanyl’ law - which would require fentanyl detecting test strips to be bundled with any Narcan kit the County gives out, and authorize the Department of Mental Health, Chemical Dependency and Developmental Disabilities to provide strips upon request directly to residents,” the Legislators added.
“Amidst this intensified focus on overdose prevention, we are hopeful that our colleagues will join with us and behavioral health experts like Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds in supporting a common-sense proposal that will equip the public with another important tool for confronting this deadly and insidious scourge,” Legislators DeRiggi-Whitton, Drucker and Mulé said.
Click here to read the amendment
Additional Information