Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — The MBTA has announced a pilot program to install Narcan access cabinets at five stations along the Red Line.
The pilot program’s purpose is to increase access to Narcan, the brand name for the drug Naloxone, which can effectively prevent an opioid overdose.
WBZ NewsRadio spoke to Boston residents such as China, who works in healthcare and carries Narcan with her daily. She thinks that more places should make them publicly available. “I think that’s [how] it should be because we have the most vulnerable community out here everywhere mostly at the station,” she said.
“It’s a beautiful thing, I’m happy to hear that,” she added.
Each of the five stations along the Red Line will be equipped with three freestanding and unalarmed cabinets that will contain two doses of Narcan with instructions in English, Spanish, and Chinese on how to recognize an opioid overdose, how to administer the drug, and how to contact emergency assistance.
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“It’s clear that Narcan saves lives, and we are proud to lead the way as one of the six transit entities that have joined the White House’s ‘The Challenge to Save Lives from Overdose’ initiative. Given the role our stations play in the communities with the thousands that traverse them, it makes them ideal pilot locations to include as part of this project,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng.
The MBTA says that the five Red Line stations joining the initiative are Quincy Center, Andrew, South Station and Harvard.
WBZ NewsRadio’s James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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