CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — As the opioid crisis continues across Texas, Coastal Bend counties are about to get a supply of NARCAN to fight it.
But is NARCAN getting to the people who need it most?
Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday that all 254 Texas counties will have NARCAN distributed to their sheriff's offices.
The medication rapidly reverses the effects of opioid overdose, and those suffering from addiction are looking for the right place to get it. The crisis stems from fentanyl -- a dangerous synthetic opioid that is significantly stronger than drugs like morphine and heroin.
South Texas Substance Abuse Recovery Intake Coordinator Charles Taze Vandever said that Fentanyl can lead to an overdose for anyone, and having a supply of NARCAN can mean the difference in saving someone's life.
"It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it for people really, anytime now. Not just people who use opioids, people who have kids, anybody," he said.
The STSARS mission is to combat the ongoing issue and assist people who want help. One of the ways the organization does that is by making sure that NARCAN is readily available to those who truly need it.
"The lives that are being saved, it's, they're just, they keep racking up, and that's how we know this stuff is working," he said.
Sheriff's offices across the state will receive 20,000 units of NARCAN to combat fentanyl. San Patricio County Sheriff Oscar Rivera said there were issues with opioids in Aransas Pass, but local police have managed it well. With the rest of the county not as affected, the current NARCAN supply isn't being used as often.
"We have supplied access to it, the problem we've got with our NARCAN, it expired on us, so this is good to know that we don't have to pay for it anymore, it's just going to come in," he said.
Rivera said that his 68 deputies have access to the NARCAN supply. Some units are also stored in the county jail as an extra precaution. The new units from the state will help replace the expired supply, providing NARCAN for county EMS and families with kids suffering from addiction.
"To be able to have something as a backup for them, cause they'll be the first person to see that, and save someone's life. If we save one life in the county, we've done a good, a good job," he said.
Thanks to the efforts of STSARS, Vandever said they've managed to provide NARCAN and training for using it to at least 758 people since November 2020. They can provide it for free since they get their supply through state funding.
"I'm real, real glad that Gov. Abbott has taken this stance and what he's doing because, like I said, the more NARCAN that's on the street, the less people are going to die -- period," he said.
Nueces County Sheriff J.C. Hooper told 3NEWS that he received a letter from the Texas Division of Emergency Management. The letter told Hooper about the next steps towards receiving a NARCAN supply.
The letter also said that Nueces County has a maximum allocation of 78 units, which is based on county size and population for the first allocation.
As for San Patricio County, Rivera said they're in contact with the TDEM to get their supply as soon as possible.
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