InterCommunity Employee Uses Narcan To Save Mother's Life.

Hartford, CT: InterCommunity Health Care transportation driver Kevin Fuller was trained on how to use the Narcan inhaler but hoped he would never have to use it. However, that all changed this summer when Kevin’s quick reaction helped save a young mother’s life.

“I had picked her up outside an East Hartford coffee shop and was driving her to a treatment center in Stonington,” Fuller said. “She was really talkative and seemed pretty upbeat and chatty. I figured she just had a lot of coffee and attributed that to the caffeine.”

During the hour-long drive, Kevin said his client seemed less talkative but that was normal. After all, it was along ride. But by the time they reached the Stonington facility, the situation took a sudden and drastic turn.

“I looked over and she was slumped. Her eyes were going to the back of her head and she started to turning blue,” Kevin said. “I realized she most likely overdosed.”

That’s when Kevin ran to the facility doors and alerted doctors and nurses. While a doctor was preforming CPR on the young mother, Kevin ran back to his car and grabbed the Narcan, a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially in an overdose. InterCommunity Health Care stocks Narcan in all of its transportation vehicles.

“I gave it to the doctor and he administered it,” Kevin said. “We waited there for about three to five minutes before she just popped out of it and came back to life. The doctor told her, ‘welcome back.’”

Kevin said the young mother later admitted to taking a Fentanyl—a synthetic opioid pain medication typically treated to relieve ongoing pain in cancer patients. It is also used with other medications to put people to sleep during surgery. Fentanyl is 100 times more potent than morphine and in many cases heroin. InterCommunity clinical experts warn that just a drop of it -- can kill you.

“We are so proud of Kevin,” Kim Beauregard, President and CEO of InterCommunity Health Care which runs the largest detox and recovery center in Connecticut. “Kevin jumped into action and saved this young woman’s life. We see more and more of our patients using Fentanyl and it is really scary. We think Kevin's story will help save even more lives by helping to bring awareness to this growing opioid epidemic ravaging our nation and state.”

If you know someone who needs help and is struggling with substance use disorders, call InterCommunity Health Care at 860-569-5900 ext. 515 is answered 24/7.

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