LifeSwitch Addiction Counseling Services of Peachtree City will be offering emergency opioid overdose training classes for Fayette and Coweta residences beginning the first weekend of December.  Mike LaTella, a Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) and owner of LifeSwitch, was surprised to learn how limited overdose resources are locally.

“I was looking for training for my own staff and couldn’t find any local organizations offering it,” Mr. LaTella said.  “With the number of opioid deaths we have experienced, there needs to be consistent and informative training for those who work with individuals who suffer from opioid use disorders and for family members of those that are at risk.”

To facilitate the training, LifeSwitch partnered with the Georgia Harm Reduction Coalition (GHRC), an organization committed to promoting health and dignity by reducing the impact of, among other things, drug use and abuse.  Pete Clark, the director of GHRC,  put it this way:  “There will always be a percentage of our population that chooses to use drugs.   Permanent recovery from opioid use is difficult and elusive. At GHRC, we don’t pass judgment.  Our goal is simply to provide communities with the resources to keep people from dying because of these choices.”

Those who complete the two-hour class will be given access to receive two doses of NARCAN Nasal Spray at no charge.  Narcan (brand name for Naloxone) immediately reverses the deadly attributes of opioid overdoses.

“If we had readily accessible Narcan Spray and someone who knows how to administer it in every public and susceptible private residence in our area, we could eliminate most of these unnecessary deaths due to opioid overdose,” Mr. LaTella said. “LifeSwitch just wants to do our part in helping make that accessibility a reality.”

The first class will be held on Saturday, December 2, 2023, at 11:00 am. at the LifeSwitch Counseling office.  Sign up by sending your name and phone number via email to [email protected] or by calling the LifeSwitch Driving School office line at 770-731-2479.