There is a scene that is all too familiar to Kimmy Siebens, a nurse and advocate who works regularly with Kitsap’s homeless population with the group Rock the Block. A yell that cuts through the quiet routine of life on the street: “He’s not breathing! He’s not breathing!” An overdose.
Someone goes for a stash of Narcan, the medication that can reverse an overdose from opioids like heroin or fentanyl and snatch a life back from the brink. The nasal spray will jet up into the person’s nose, and soon their chest will start to rise and fall again. Perhaps one or two more doses might be necessary.
Siebens carries the medication with her and is vocal about others doing the same: “I just knew as a nurse that seeing all of these thousands of blue (fentanyl) pills and seeing people dabble in it, even teenagers that were down there (in Bremerton), I knew that people were going to die if they didn’t have Narcan.”
She continued: “There’s no easy way to get into substance abuse treatment without some significant help from people who are clear-minded and can coordinate transportation and signing up for wait lists or going to the hospital. The system is set up against particular people, and so I know to protect them until the system’s better – maybe, is my hope – that in the meantime there’s lives that need to be saved.”