Revive Awareness Day focuses on efforts to reduce opioid overdoses and increase access to naloxone

The decline in overdose deaths is credited to increased availability of Narcan.

Thursday was Revive Awareness Day, and state officials said they hope the number of opioid overdose deaths will continue to decline.

St. Petersburg, Florida – Isabella Novotny's last memory before her overdose in 2016 was lying in bed, high on morphine.

“I was just taking a nap, and that nap lasted forever,” she said.

Her friends found her unconscious.

read: U.S. overdose deaths to fall slightly in 2023, CDC reports

“My lips were blue and I was dying in front of her,” Novotny said. “She gave me the first dose of naloxone and saved my life. If I hadn't had naloxone in the house, it would have taken the paramedics five minutes to arrive and start administering the IV naloxone. Without that first dose, I wouldn't be here today,” she said.

Novotny has been sober for eight years and has made it his mission in life to help others and get naloxone, available under the brand name Narcan, in everyone's hands, which is also a goal of the health department statewide. On Thursday, the health department and its partners celebrated Revive Awareness Day, an effort to raise awareness about the importance of naloxone.

Thursday was the first Revive Awareness Day. Victoria Siegel died at age 18 from an accidental drug overdose on June 6, 2015. Her name is on a new Florida law designating June 6 as Revive Awareness Day.

“I think education is really the most important thing right now — spreading information and taking action through education,” said Marvin Coleman, vice president of legislative and community affairs for Operation PAR. “It helps minimize stigma. When you minimize stigma, people are more likely to seek help,” he said.

Coleman and others said naloxone doesn't just help people with substance use disorder.

“We've had the unfortunate death of a young child during a family vacation who ingested fentanyl left over from a previous trip by another group,” said Marianne Dean, program manager for the Pinellas County Health Department's Office of Overdose Prevention. “In Pinellas County, we've seen people in their 70s and 80s who have overdosed. They have diminished mental and cognitive abilities and may forget they've taken their medication,” she said.

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More than 6,000 people died from opioid overdoses in Florida in 2022, according to the Florida Department of Health.

But there's some good news: For the first time in a decade, the numbers are starting to decline slightly, according to the Department of Health. Officials say that's largely due to more people getting naloxone. That decline includes Pinellas County, which saw more than 500 overdose deaths in 2022.

“This just shows the coordinated action of all the teams that are here distributing Narcan, spreading the education and the message and keeping the momentum going,” Dean said.

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That's why they said naloxone should be available to everyone.

“It's like an AED or a fire extinguisher. Hopefully you'll have it when you need it, and hopefully you'll never need it, but it's always better to have it,” Dean said. “Things like fentanyl are everywhere. If you're not aware of it, it can only do harm. So it's better to be proactive and prepared than reactive and unprepared,” she said.

Narcan is available to everyone for free at several locations in the community, including local health departments. The Florida Department of Health also provides free training.

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