Pignatelli was inspired to file the HOPE Act after hearing the story of a young man who overdosed and passed away in the presence of a police officer while waiting for a dose of Narcan to arrive on the scene.
"When I was younger, I was an A student, in the 98th percentile on all the tests. I did ballet. You wouldn’t have thought I would end up the way I did. All my teachers thought I had a lot of promise and would do well in life."
The CARE Act is the result of extensive work researching evidence-based best practices and collaborating with healthcare researchers and clinicians, hospitals, behavioral health providers, law enforcement officials, patient advocates, and individuals with lived experience to develop policies to address the opioid epidemic.
In this time of grief and intense loss, we wanted to share with the community in South County some of the resources that are available and make connections to community efforts to address the epidemic of opioid misuse.
The faith communities of Berkshire County will gather for a public training on the opioid overdose reversal medication Narcan (naloxone) Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 10:30 a.m. at Trinity Church in Lenox.
Great Barrington’s public safety professionals have worked in partnership with Fairview Hospital’s emergency department head Dr. Alec Belman to develop an ongoing training program to be administered annually by fire Chief Charles Burger and firefighter Lt. A.J. Anderson.
“We have a 150-year history of finding ways to improve service to the community, even if it means branching out from our standard scope of work.”
-- Fire Chief Charles Burger
In her latest column on heroin addiction, Jennifer Wheeler writes: "With so many people overdosing these days, it is so scary. I know this is a terrifying situation for anyone involved but I would rather be prepared than let someone die – yourself included!"
