By Courtney Hessler, The Herald-Dispatch
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Hundreds of volunteers united across West Virginia on Thursday with a goal of saving lives by making an opioid overdose-reversing drug more accessible.
For 10 hours, volunteers at more than 180 locations in the state handed out free naloxone kits, commonly known by its brand name Narcan, a medication that can reverse an opioid overdose by attacking opioid receptors and reversing and blocking the effects of an opioid. Some sites also offered other services, handing out 10,000 fentanyl test strips, HIV testing, vaccinations, education and more.
The event, dubbed Save a Life Day, follows a report released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that said West Virginia was one of six states to report a decrease in fatal drug overdoses. Between March 2021 and March 2022, the state saw a total of 1,403 fatal overdoses, 84% — 1,178 — of which included an opioid…