The Heroin Epidemic Is Turning My Soup Kitchen Into an Emergency Room

I Never Imagined I'd Be Spraying Life-Saving Drugs Up an Addict’s Nose

In August, she drove two miles, past a large hospital, to get her boyfriend to our soup kitchen, but not for the food. She knew someone here would have Narcan, a life-saving overdose-reversing drug that, until recently, was unavailable here in Maine to people at risk of overdosing.

Her boyfriend was bluish and slumped over the passenger side of the van when he arrived. Brittney, a caseworker, administered Narcan and he survived.

Sternal rubs. Rescue breathing. Intra-nasal application of Narcan. These are the lexicon of emergency personnel—people whose job it is …