Sixty visitors to the recent Sunshine Prevention Center Fall Festival in Port Jefferson Station were trained by the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) in the use of Narcan, the antidote to an overdose, and received a kit containing two doses of the antidote.
Research indicates that fentanyl is now the number one cause of death in the United States for people between the ages of 18-45 years. In addition, the SCPD also educated well over 100 community members about Narcan and the risks associated with illicit drug use.
The training was conducted by SCPD Emergency Medical Service Officers Jason Byron and Alex Trzepizur, who work closely with the SCPD’s Behavioral Health Unit.
“That number of people who were willing to take five minutes out of their day to learn about opioids, fentanyl and the overdose epidemic was impressive,” said Byron.
Festival visitors also stopped by a table with purple rocks intended to be decorated with the names of loved ones lost to overdose and fentanyl poisoning.
Called the Purple Rock Project by the mothers who provide the rocks, the finished rocks are placed around parks and other locations, including Gabriel’s Giving Tree Memorial & Recovery Garden at Suffolk County Environmental Center at the Scully Estate, 550 South Bay Avenue in Islip, as a reminder of how many Long Islanders have died from O.D. and fentanyl poisonings.
“Writing a child’s name on a rock may seem like a small thing, but I think it is a way of saying to the world that their child was once here,” said Carole Trottere, who lost her son Alex in 2018.
Lori Carbonaro, who lost her son Nicholas in 2014, said: “I feel that Long Island’s Purple Rock Project is a beautiful way to memorialize our angels while spreading awareness to families in our communities.”
For more information about the memorial rocks and “The Purple Rock Project” contact Carole Trottere at [email protected].
If you have lost a loved one to O.D. or fentanyl poisoning, and you would like to incorporate a Narcan training into a memorial event for your child, or loved one, please contact Police Officer Bridget Topping at [email protected].
