Naloxone has been called a miracle drug because of how effective it can be at reversing the effects of an opioid overdose. So far this year, emergency medical technicians in New York City have administered Naloxone 3,276 times, an increase of 23 percent over the same period last year.
Luke Nasta is the CEO of Camelot Counseling, an addiction treatment center with locations throughout the city. He believes the increase is due to the pandemic. "Take the forced quarantine, and further isolate these people, and they use in isolation — depression, and anxiety,” said Nasta.
Fire officials could not say how many times naloxone has saved lives, but in a borough-by-borough breakdown obtained by NY1, Staten Island leads the city with a whopping 66 percent increase in the number of times EMTs administered the antidote, followed by Manhattan, at nearly 61 percent. Next comes Brooklyn, with a 20 percent increase, followed by the Bronx and Queens. Read more