East End’s New Tool in War on Opioid Crisis: Narcan Rescue Stations 

The opioid overdose antidote Narcan will increasingly be found in new rescue stations being rolled out at establishments across the North Fork in an effort to prevent fatal drug poisonings in the region.

Created in response to six people who fatally overdosed on fentanyl-laced cocaine on the North Fork in the summer of 2021, the first two Narcan Rescue Stations were installed at Greenport Harbor Brewing Co.’s locations in Peconic and Greenport, officials said. 

“It’s painful to remember the summer of 2021,” Richard Vandenburgh, the brewery’s owner and president of the Greenport Village Business Improvement District (BID), wrote in a letter to local business owners he asked to also install the devices to “prevent more tragedies like the one we faced.” 

Narcan training sessions have been commonplace amid the local manifestation of a national opioid epidemic that ranks among the deadliest health crises in U.S. history, claiming more than 106,000 lives nationwide in 2021 alone — killing more Americans than car crashes and guns annually combined.

The rash of fatal North Fork ODs was among the most high profile cases in recent memory, but hundreds more die annually on Long Island without making headlines. The Narcan initiative is a collaboration between the Greenport BID, the brewery, Stony Brook Eastern Long Island Hospital (SBELIH) and Community Action for Social Justice. Each Narcan station will be equipped with multiple doses of naloxone as well as detailed administering instructions. 

Claudio’s, Ellen’s On Front, GDC Roller Skate Rink, and Front Street Station have also committed to installing Narcan Rescue Stations. 

Free training will be provided to participating businesses and there is no cost to the business to have each station installed. Businesses can sign up for Narcan Rescue Stations at greenportvillage.com/free-narcan-rescue-stations. 

“The tragedy that occurred in 2021 could have been prevented,” said Paul J. Connor, Chief Administrative Officer at SBELIH. “These Narcan Rescue Stations will honor the legacies of those we’ve lost by ensuring nobody else meets the same tragic fate.”