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Final cut for Harry’s Market in Wilkes-Barre, closing after 73 years

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16 local schools on new state improvement lists

<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; In a little more than an hour Thursday the city Health Department gave away all 72 kits of the opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan.</p><p>The kits contained two units of the drug that&#8217;s sprayed in a person&#8217;s nose, said Henry Radulski, the department director. They were free to anyone, no questions asked, no forms signed. &#8220;The response was overwhelming. We started at 11 o&#8217;clock and by 10 after 12 they were gone,&#8221; Radulski said at the department&#8217;s office in the Kirby Health Center.</p><p>&#8220;The best thing that comes out is there&#8217;s a great need. To think that we could go through that number in that short of time means the need is there,&#8221; Radulski said.</p><p>The department received another shipment of 96 boxes later in the afternoon and planned to stay open until 7 p.m. to give them away.</p><p>Last year, Pennsylvania led the nation in drug overdose deaths with approximately 5,400, according to Radulski. Luzerne County reported 155 drug overdose deaths in 2017. Coroner William Lisman said to date this year there are 141 confirmed overdose deaths and 11 pending toxicology tests.</p><p>The distribution was part of the statewide campaign, &#8220;Stop Overdoses in PA: Get Help Now&#8221; and the kits were provided by the state Department of Health. &#8220;We are fortunate to get these because we are one of 10 state funded health departments in the state of Pennsylvania. There are five cities and five counties,&#8221; Radulski said. He could not provide the cost per kit.</p><p>Due to the limited supply at first, the city health department took the names and phone numbers of people to contact at a later date if more kits were located.</p><p>Some people also were directed to the state Health Department&#8217;s office on Carey Avenue. Jaime, who who declined to give her last name, was one of them. She said she traveled from near Carbondale in neighboring Lackawanna County for a kit.</p><p>&#8220;My uncle died Dec. 1,&#8221; she said. The 54-year-old New Jersey resident had been prescribed a prescription pain killer and hung out with the wrong crowd after his divorce, she said. The exact cause of death is yet to be determined, but she said, &#8220;We do have an idea.&#8221; The people who hung out with him cleaned up his home and waited six hours to report his death, she said.</p><p>Jaime said she wanted to give the kit to her mother who has a large number of grandchildren from infants to adults and wants to have it on hand just in case.</p><p>&#8220;I have a 12-year-old daughter at home,&#8221; Jamie said. &#8220;You see people on the street doing stuff.&#8221;</p><p>People offered a number of reasons for wanting the drug, Radulski added.</p><p>&#8220;We probably had several different responses. We&#8217;ve had people say they have someone who lives with them with an addiction problem. We even had someone come in here and say that, &#8216;I want one. I want to be a Good Samaritan. If I see someone who needs it I will administer it,&#8217;&#8221; Radulski said.</p><p>The recipients received literature on the drug and a video played in the office showing how to administer Narcan, Radulski said.</p><p>The drug is one component of the state&#8217;s plan to respond to the opioid crisis. After a person is revived and transported to a hospital they&#8217;re given what Radulski called a &#8220;warm handoff&#8221; to contact an organization or facility where they can seek treatment for their addiction.</p><p>&#8220;It will be very successful when the entire plan as far as getting the therapy or mental health education and that&#8217;s when we&#8217;ll make a real dent,&#8221; Radulski said. &#8220;But right now, as far as the Narcan, it&#8217;s about saving lives. And if you could save one life, that&#8217;s important.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">The Wilkes-Barre Health Department distributed 72 kits containing Narcan, an opioid overdose reversal drug, for free in a little more than an hour Thursday at the Kirby Health Center as part of the state&#8217;s program to stop overdose deaths. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/web1_TTL121418Nalaxone1.jpg</photo0><caption0>The Wilkes-Barre Health Department distributed 72 kits containing Narcan, an opioid overdose reversal drug, for free in a little more than an hour Thursday at the Kirby Health Center as part of the state&#8217;s program to stop overdose deaths. </caption0><photoCredit0>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jerry Lynott</p><p>jlynott@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Health director: Overdose drug kits distributed quickly and points to need for Narcan