(PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.) – Nassau County Legislature Minority Leader Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D – Glen Cove) partnered with the Office of the Nassau County Executive and Nassau County’s Department of Human Services to host a community Narcan training workshop at the Port Washington Public Library on Thursday, Oct. 10.
During the training, Calle Panakos, the Coordinator of Education and Training at the Nassau County Office of Mental Health, Chemical Dependency and Developmental Disabilities Services taught dozens of participants how to spot the signs of an opiate overdose, how to administer intranasal Naloxone to reverse an overdose, and informed them about new approaches to treating addiction. Each participant was provided a Narcan kit upon completing their training.
Attendees also heard directly from a woman whose family has suffered the devastation wrought by the ongoing opioid and fentanyl crises. Corinne Kaufman’s granddaughter, Paige Gibbons, died on Nov. 20, 2022 – just four days after her 19th birthday – after she consumed a small piece of what she thought was a Percocet pill at a sleepover with friends. It turned out to be entirely fentanyl, and she died later that night.
In the aftermath of Paige’s tragic death, Kaufman has launched the Families Against Fentanyl campaign and is advocating for Narcan kits to be available in every middle and high school nurse’s office on Long Island. She is also urging Nassau County to distribute fentanyl test strips by bundling them with Narcan kits and distributing them directly to all who seek them; she furthermore wants to increase awareness about fentanyl through campaigns in public schools and by asking the media to regularly publish fentanyl overdose death statistics.
“Throughout my time as a Nassau County Legislator, my office has trained close to 1,000 people in the use of this simple tool for saving lives and giving people a second chance at life and long-term, sustainable recovery,” Minority Leader DeRiggi-Whitton said. “I am thankful to Calle Panakos for once again sharing her expertise with all those who attended, and I will always have tremendous gratitude for Corinne Kaufman and her relentless drive to save lives in memory of her beloved granddaughter Paige.”
PHOTO CREDITS – Photos by Peter M. Budraitis