Montana Attorney General Wants Narcan First Aid Kits in Public Spaces

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen appeared on Monday’s Talk Back show to continue his emphasis on the fight against fentanyl coming into Montana. Knudsen began by reminding listeners about just how deadly fentanyl can be.

“Narcan is a counter agent to fentanyl,” began Knudsen. “Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. That opioid molecule, once you ingest it, attaches to your brain stem and it puts you into a deep, deep sleep by knocking you out. For a lot of people, it makes you stop breathing and you die.”

Knudsen described how Narcan helps to rapidly neutralize the effects of fentanyl poisoning.

“Narcan is a nasal spray,” he said. “You can administer it really easily. Usually, within a matter of seconds, Narcan actually blocks the opioid molecule from attaching to your brainstem, and it will revive somebody who is having a fentanyl overdose. It's amazing stuff.”

Knudsen described a new Department of Justice program to bring Narcan First Aid Kits to select locations throughout the state.

“Here at the Department of Justice, we're actually rolling out a new program,” he said. “We took some of our opioid settlement money that we got from suing the opioid manufacturers. We got a pretty good chunk of money and we're using it to purchase Narcan first aid kits. This is going to look just like a first aid kit you'd see hanging on the wall at a public school or at a library, and that's the idea here. We're going to put these out in public spaces.”

Knudsen pointed out that the first mention of such Narcan first aid kits was here in Missoula.

READ MORE: Montana AG Has Show and Tell with Fentanyl Reversal Kit

“Actually, the first time we discussed this was at the YMCA in Missoula,” he said. “I used to live right there across the street. We happened to be doing an event there and talking with some folks, and kind of brainstorming about what we could do with some of these opioid settlement funds, and that's where the idea was born. First, we want to make sure that any public school in Montana that wants a couple of these can get them. Then we're going to focus on public buildings like the YMCA and your public library.”