Hudson Valley outreach team provides water and Narcan amid extreme heat
The crew from Independent Living Inc. is setting up in places where, according to their data, there are higher risks of heat-related injuries among vulnerable populations.
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A Hudson Valley outreach team is zeroing in on communities with high rates of addiction and mental illness during the stretch of hot weather, beginning Wednesday with Poughkeepsie.
The crew from Independent Living Inc. is setting up in places where, according to their data, there are higher risks of heat-related injuries among vulnerable populations.
"Today, obviously we see Poughkeepsie as a hotspot," street outreach specialist Bill McAndrews said. "There are a lot of things going on - the overdoses, the fentanyl."
McAndrews said extreme heat can kill his clients just as much as extreme cold can.
"They don't take care of themselves," he said. "So, they're more susceptible to something happening."
The group offers snacks, water and conversation to everyone, and they offer recovery services to people who are ready to accept help.
A couple blocks from the outreach team's location on Main Street, Niquan Wright and about 10 others were taking refuge in the shade of a downtown parking garage.
"This is like the home base," Wright said.
It is communal. Wright is contributing some ice cream and some clean, light clothing. He is still working on the hydration.
"I figured I was going to grab a few five-gallon jugs and fill them up with water," he said, "To try to keep them cool, some way, somehow."
The outreach team is on the lookout for overdoses. A study logged in the National Library of Medicine found there is a correlation between exposure to extreme heat and increases in overdose deaths.
Along with the water, the team is handing out overdose reversal kits, more commonly known as Narcan.
"We're the first line of defense while they're waiting for that first responder to get on the scene," McAndrews said. "We encourage everybody to get trained on it and keep it in their car. I keep it in my car."
In the coming hot days, they plan to be in other at-risk communities, including cities like Newburgh and Middletown, as well as rural communities like Ellenville where services like theirs are scarcer.
