NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- In North Adams, opioid abuse is like a shadow: out of the light, but always liable to show itself. Places like the Brien Center and other drug centers have helped turn lives around.
"If they don't get help, they're going to die. That's all there is to it," said North Adams Police Director Michael Cozzaglio.
But in a decisive moment, when an overdose pushes someone's life to the edge, only a select few are able to try to pull them back. They are the first responders, and in North Adams, they're now all equipped with nasal Naloxone, better known as Narcan, which helps to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
"Ultimately, time is of the essence on these calls," said Amalio Jusino, assistant chief of the North Adams Ambulance Company. "With police having it on them, they can get there quicker with the cruiser, they can administer that Narcan, start that rescue breathing, and follow up by having EMS arriving on scene."
First responders are also trained on how to store the Narcan. If one of those overdose kits is locked inside a cruiser overnight in the dead of winter, it's not going to be usable anymore. So what the officers do is store the kits inside their duty bags, which come back inside with them at the ends of their shifts every night.
"The reality is we're here to save lives," said Jusino.
They've had these Narcan kits for less than a week. During that time alone, responders have administered seven doses, saving four lives.
"Addiction is a disease and we need to treat it as such," said North Adams Mayor Richard Alcombright. "My comment here is we need to look at this any other way we'd look at any sort of disease that we're able to treat and make people healthy again."
So in this city, whether you see a police cruiser, a fire engine or an ambulance ride by, with them is the medicine that could give someone a second chance.
"We're just hoping we can help in this situation so that more people have a chance to fight this disease," said Lt. Joseph Beverly of the North Adams Fire Department.