Area groups join forces to help Save A Life
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WEIRTON - What started as a small pilot program in West Virginia, with an important message, has quickly spread across the nation.
Organizations throughout the United States, including six in the Northern Panhandle, joined forces Thursday in observance of Save A Life Day, established as a day of action to distribute naloxone and provide overdose prevention education in an effort to better equip the public with the knowledge to, not only recognize an overdose, but to, hopefully, reverse it.
"We’re here to train people in the community," Kelly Coffin, transition agent for Jobs and Hope WV, said.
Locally, several distributions were organized as part of a cooperative effort by Jobs and Hope WV, Youth Services System, Serenity Hills Life Center, Harmony Ridge Recovery Center, Project Hope, and the Hancock and Brooke Young Professionals.
Save A Life Day started with a two-county pilot program in West Virginia in 2020. In 2025, groups in all 50 states offered distribution and training events, providing intranasal doses of naloxone - also known by the brand name of Narcan - as well as training in how to properly administer the medicine.
At a table set up Thursday in front of the Millsop Community Center in Weirton, residents were able to receive a box with two doses of Narcan, a Deterra drug disposal pouch which includes a kit designed to deactivate drugs, as well as the opportunity to pick up drug test strips, educational information on local treatment programs and other community resources, and various other materials.
According to SOAR WV, which originated the effort, in 2025, 1,044 events were held in the United States, distributing 132,959 naloxone doses.
This year, there were 246 distribution sites planned in West Virginia alone, with four in the Northern Panhandle. In addition to the Weirton event, distributions were set at the Anchor in Wellsburg, along 18th Street in East Wheeling, and at Walmart in Moundsville.
Coffin explained, while people may hear of naloxone and think only of those living with substance use concerns, the reversal medication can be of use in numerous situations.
"Narcan can be used for any kind of opioid drug," Coffin noted, explaining it also can be of use in the event an elderly individual accidentally takes more of a prescription than they should, or during instances where a child gets into medication or another opioid-based substance it’s not supposed to. "It’s meant for anyone."
Coffin explained those who may wish to get naloxone, and missed Thursday’s distribution events, typically are able to do so by contacting their local county health department, as well as Youth Services System and many of the other organizations involved for guidance.
(Howell can be contacted at chowell@weirtondailytimes.com)