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…