‘Save a Life Day’ aims to prevent overdose deaths in the Kanawha Valley, beyond

Volunteers distribute naloxone during a 2023 Save a Life Day event in Clendenin. This year’s event is scheduled for Sept. 26.Photo bySOAR WV

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Between April 2023 and April 2024, a total of 1,123 West Virginians died from drug overdose deaths, according to data provided by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

While that number represents a 10.86 percent decline over the previous year, advocates say the amount of overdose deaths remains too high.

“We’re still losing a Roanoke, Virginia worth of people every year [nationally to overdose deaths],” said Joe Solomon, co-director of SOAR WV. The Charleston-based organization works with individuals who are impacted by drug use.

On Thursday, Sept. 26, SOAR WV and other local and national organizations will work to further reduce the number of overdose deaths through Save a Life Day naloxone giveaway events.

Naloxone – commonly referred to by the brand name Narcan -- is a nasal spray medication that works to reverse opioid overdoses. Its use as a nasal spray was approved by the FDA as a prescription drug in 2015. Eight years later, it was authorized for over-the-counter distribution.

Save a Life Day, now in its fourth year, began as a two-county pilot project in West Virginia. It eventually spread to all 13 Appalachian states, organizers said.

This year, Save a Life Day events will be hosted in over 600 locations throughout all states east of the Mississippi River, according to officials. More than a dozen distribution sites are expected in the Kanawha Valley alone.

More than 45,000 naloxone doses were distributed at Save a Life Day locations in 2023, including at this event in Marmet.Photo bySOAR WV

“We work with hundreds of organizations fighting the overdose epidemic daily,” Caroline Wilson, Save a Life Day Coordinator, said in a statement.

In Kanawha County, events on Sept. 26 are planned from Nitro to Montgomery, in communities on both sides of the Kanawha River, and at sites along the Elk River, including Clendenin.

An interactive online map shows participating organizations throughout the region and the United States. This year’s pick-up locations include churches, clinics, libraries, colleges and more.

“The idea isn’t to get people to come to you, but to meet people where they are,” Solomon said.

In 2023, Save a Life Day volunteers distributed more than 45,000 naloxone doses in a single day, according to SOAR’s website.

“Our goal is to promote positive messaging around naloxone that lasts all year,” Wilson said.

But messaging isn’t the only goal of Save a Life Day, officials said.

“Overdose is such a tragic topic, but there are solutions,” Wilson said. “We want the thought of saving someone’s life to be a no-brainer- ‘normalized,’ if you will. The message is that saving lives is for everyone.”

Michael Ramsburg is a Kanawha County communities reporter. He can be reached at ramsburgreports@gmail.com or by calling 304-370-3067.