HS increases efforts for Narcan training

After the success of the county’s first public Narcan training earlier this year, an effort to decrease opiate overdoses and use in Sanders County, several members of the Hot Springs community have volunteered to go through training to become Narcan Master Trainers.

After receiving positive feedback from Sanders County and surrounding areas, Hot Springs Police Officer Jason Acheson, along with seven other volunteers, will be trained by instructors from Best Practice Medicine to go out and train the public to carry Narcan.

“Having these master trainers available in the county is really the only way to get the community free Narcan,” Acheson said. “Our goal, once trained, is to get free Narcan to as many citizens as possible to help us fight back against what drug abuse is doing to our loved ones.” The lack of resources in rural communities, such as those in Sanders County, also prompted Acheson to take initiative to assemble the group of volunteers, as there is no establishment in the county offering free Narcan to its residents.

Best Practice Medicine will come to Hot Springs on April 25 to train the eight volunteers. Acheson says that while eight is the maximum occupancy for the class, once the group is trained as master trainers, they will be able to get the service out into the county and Narcan into the hands of those who need it.

“We can go to the schools, businesses, community events, anyone who asks, and teach people in the community to carry Narcan,” Acheson said. The training is free and the goal is to give these master trainers the opportunity to go out into the public and make a difference.

For more information, contact Acheson at the Hot Springs Police Department, (406) 741-3314 or [email protected].