The Pittsfield Fire Department recently received a grant to carry the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan.The roughly $14,000 grant from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health will supply firefighters with the nasal medication. Linda Tyer is Pittsfield’s mayor.
“In Pittsfield when there is a medical call our fire department is a first responder,” Tyer said. “And oftentimes arrives at a medical call before the ambulances do.”
All emergency medical services in North Adams distribute Narcan.
Between 2000 and 2015, an estimated 142 people died from unintentional opioid overdoses in Berkshire County, according to state data. Ninety-four of those deaths occurred between 2012 and 2015.
