PSTA implements NARCAN training and kits to employees to help combat epidemic

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Saturday is International Overdose Awareness Day, and ahead of the campaign, the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) is training their employees on how to use the overdose reversal drug NARCAN.

Officials with PSTA said they are the first transit authority to implement this training in the state of Florida. On top of the training, they are putting NARCAN kits at their terminal centers.

“Florida is actually the number two state in the nation for opioid overdose fatalities and Pinellas is number one,” said Eddie Kester, Safety/Security Training Supervisor with PSTA.

They are in the process of training their employees on how to administer NARCAN.

“Forward facing staff who are in a position that interact with the public that can lend a hand, and assist, if it’s needed,” Kester said.

Naloxone is the medication used to reverse an opioid overdose, and NARCAN is one brand of the medication.

“This is the right tool at the right time, because as we know, the street drug Fentanyl are the driving causes that are killing 10s of thousands of loved ones, and they’re not all adults,” said Dan Zsideo, who trains people on Naloxone.

Dan Zsideo is partnering with PSTA to help train their employees. He said there are certain signs to look out for if someone is experiencing an overdose.

“You can’t wake them up, their pupils are pinpoint, their breathing is slow, almost non-existent, almost no pulse,” he said.

These trainings help educate people and show them how to use the nasal sprays. A spray Zsideo said can mean the difference between life and death.

“These are families that we are helping. These are sons and daughters, moms and dads, brothers and sisters. This is our community here, this is Tampa Bay, and we are in a position where we can help,” Kester said.

Their ultimate mission is to get the NARCAN on the busses, so they can save a life at any time.

There are currently four terminals that have NARCAN kits, and the agency said they will have one at every single transit center by Saturday, August 31.

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