Five Towns gets Narcan training; Frum community acts after drug confab

Members of the Five Towns Orthodox community, several hundred of whom attended a discussion on drug abuse on July 16, will participate in a Narcan training session on Monday, Aug. 13, from 7:30 to 9 pm.

Monday’s session is being held in response to “many heartfelt requests” from community members, said officials of the Gural JCC, which is hosting the training at its 207 Grove Ave., Cedarhurst, location. 

Narcan (naloxone) can be administered as a nasal spray or intramuscular injection to reverse opiate overdoses by removing opioids from opiate receptors in the brain.

Those attending the training will learn how to recognize the signs of an opiate overdose, how to reverse an opiate overdose, new treatment approaches and other relevant information. Each participant will receive a free Narcan kit.

Seventy-five spots are available for the training session. To reserve a spot, email helpfivet@gmail.com. For more information, call Cathy Byrne at 516-569-5612.

At the July 16 event, at Congregation Beth Shalom in Lawrence, Rabbi Dov Silver, founder and executive director of Madraigos, said, “We’re in this problem because the world is in this problem [and it’s] getting worse,” referring to drug and alcohol abuse in Orthodox communities.

“No longer can you say not my son, not my daughter, not my backyard, not my house,” said Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder.

Rabbi Kenneth Hain of Beth Shalom said that dealing with the problem was a matter of pikuach nefesh that required overcoming “the worry about shame, about discovery.”