Public Naloxone Trainings Aim to Save Lives, Change Minds About Addiction
Erie Regional Recovery Hub works to reverse stigmas
Blue lips, leaning to one side, head and eyes beginning to roll back, aspirating – all are signs of an opioid overdose, and on a winter day in Erie several years ago, they triggered an immediate response in a bystander.
"I just remember running out to my car and getting this box of Narcan," said Theresa Laird, who saw the individual sitting alone upon walking into a fast-food restaurant in Erie.
Having worked in the drug and alcohol addiction line of work, she knew the signs of an overdose and how to administer naloxone, also known as Narcan, a common brand of the medication that temporarily blocks the damaging effects of opioids, allowing time for emergency medical intervention to arrive.
Within a minute, the person still wasn't responding, so she administered a second dose, and the person was revived in time for the ambulance to arrive. She said that it was a sobering experience and gave her a great moment of clarity and humanity.
"You don't think about things like the taxpayer dollars that paid for the Narcan, or your political beliefs, or your personal bias towards drug and alcohol behavior," she said. "Immediately, you just spring into action, thinking, 'I have to save this person.' This is a son. This is a daughter. This is a wife, a brother, a mother, whatever the case may be."
Laird said that it's her background in addiction treatment that enabled her to act in that moment because at the time, knowing how to use naloxone was not a common skill.
Now she works as an assistant project coordinator for the Erie County Regional Recovery Hub alongside Kaylee Stone, another assistant project coordinator who provides free community training for administering naloxone. Like CPR, administering naloxone is one of the closest things to an emergency medical procedure that the average person can provide.
Stone received her training through a nonprofit called Overdose Lifeline and since March 2025, she has trained about 400 people over nearly 30 sessions for organizations and in community spaces throughout the county.
In the training, Stone explains symptoms to look out for, how to administer naloxone, what to expect after, and what the overall overdose picture looks like in the area. Some of the symptoms of a person overdosing include being unresponsive or nodding off, having blue lips, making choking or gurgling noises, feeling cold or clammy, and losing a pulse. Having the average person trained to know when life-saving measures are needed helps cut back the number of fatal overdoses. Currently, three out of every four fatal overdoses occur when the person is alone.
While Stone said that newer medications like veterinary sedatives xylazine and medetomidine are mixed into the drug supply and cannot be reversed using naloxone, they are typically mixed with opioids like fentanyl, which is reversed by naloxone.
The Erie County Overdose Fatality Review for 2025 found fentanyl was ruled as a factor in the cause of death for 80 percent of the incidents studied. The good news, Stone said, is that interest in trainings shows that people want to reduce that number.
Since the Recovery Hub's creation in 2023 – one of nine in the state – from a $310,000 Pennsylvania Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs grant, overdose deaths have decreased. This follows a national trend of declining overdose deaths within the same period (from a peak of 107,941 in 2022 to approximately 70,000 in 2025). In Erie County, drug-related deaths reported by the coroner have decreased from 122 in 2022 to 42 in 2025.
The recovery "hub" is meant to provide technical assistance and collaborate with a variety of community entities, sectors, and systems to enhance a recovery-supportive community and facilitate recovery support service delivery. In addition to layperson trainings, the hub hosts events like the recent Rock for Recovery event at the 1020 Collective and collaborates with local businesses and agencies to provide safe, substance-free events for people in the community.
The Erie County Office of Drug and Alcohol Abuse also provides harm reduction supplies and preventative education. When people ask, "What can I do?" Stone says that having supplies with you – and knowing how to use them – just as you would a first aid kit or EpiPen, can be the difference between life and death.
Harm reduction supplies like wound cleaning kits, medetomidine and xylazine test strips, and prevention care like safe disposal packets for medication, medication lockboxes, etc. are available to the community for free at the Erie County Office of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
Stone said that things like harm reduction supplies and using naloxone can still carry stigma, and she's hoping that the trainings can help change that.
"At the beginning of my training, I always encourage people to just try to have an open mind," she said. "It might challenge some beliefs that you didn't realize before that you've thought about addiction."
She's found that people even have misconceptions about administering naloxone and that it could result in someone being charged in relation to the incident.
"There are Good Samaritan laws out there – they vary by state – but to encourage bystanders," she said. "I always tell people in my training that you need to do what you're comfortable with."
Before and after each training, attendees complete assessments so Stone can track how beneficial the training is to them. The feedback shows that people are learning more about naloxone and fentanyl and report building their confidence and knowledge regarding naloxone and drug overdoses.
By using education, harm reduction, and support at all levels of treatment, Stone said it increases the chances that people can recover and continue to lead productive and happy lives.
"At the end of the day, it's about saving people's lives," she said. "Substance use disorder, addiction, these are complex issues, and I know we want people to stop using substances, but they really don't get that chance if they're not alive anymore. Narcan can really give them that chance at recovery."
Find more information about the Regional Recovery Hub and request a naloxone public training by visiting recoveriepa.org or email Stone at kstone@eriecountypa.gov. To RSVP for this year's International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31 at Stairways Behavioral Health, visit overdoseday.com
Chloe Forbes is a local journalist. Reach her at chloeforbes14@gmail.com
