CINCINNATI — The Coalition for Community Safety will train bar, restaurant and workers Monday to identify and react to drug overdoses. The coalition says the training is a “first-of-its-kind.”
It is taking place at Somerset, a bar in Over-the-Rhine, at 2:30 p.m. The training is open to the public, but the program will be directed toward restaurant and bar employees.
Noam Barnard, the executive director of the coalition, said these workers are often on the frontlines of the problem.
“Your bar staff sees everything,” he said. “They hear everything. They kind of know what's going on. If somebody comes out of the bathroom and says, ‘Hey, there's somebody passed out on the floor over there,’ yes, call 911. But at the same time, we have Narcan in the office or behind the bar and it could be a matter of minutes that can save somebody's life.”
Educating workers on how to administer Narcan is at the forefront of the training. Narcan is a medicine that can quickly reverse an opioid overdose.
Barnard said one of the biggest problems right now is that party drugs are being laced with fentanyl.Cincinnati’s Drug Enforcement Agency has said this is an ongoing threat. Nationwide, the DEA reports 42% of pills tested for fentanyl have contained a potentially deadly dose.
Last week, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office said they had seized three pounds of fentanyl during drug search warrants. The sheriff said it was enough to kill more than 500,000 people.
Barnard said his role in the fight was simply to make tools accessible that could save lives.
“It's easy to look at drug addiction and say, ‘Oh, there's people living on the street and they’re using stuff like that,’ but what's really happening out there is there's young people out there trying to have a good night,” he said. “The problem is some of those decisions have fentanyl cut into it and it's killing people.”
Everyone who completes Monday’s training will be issued Narcan. Barnard said the coalition plans to hold more of these trainings and hopes to expand the program throughout other cities in Ohio.
Anyone can order Narcan online anonymously from Harm Reduction Ohio.
You can learn more about the coalition’s work here.
