Bucks County Mom’s Organization Gives Out Free Narcan Kits In Levittown

In the throws of a warm September evening in Levittown, Cathy Messina, a Warminster mom, found herself sharing her story for what has seemed like the millionth time – although it’s difficult, she shares her story in service to others.

Messina’s life and family has been ripped apart from the reality of heroin addiction. Two of Messina’s sons overdosed from a version of the drug laced with fentanyl in her home two years ago – David ‘Dave’, 21, lost his life. Messina’s other son, who she wished not to name, is now in recovery.

According to Messina, her son lost his life after a very brief stint with addiction and shortly before he was expected to enter a rehab program. Her other son had already begun treatment at the time but had not found a solid program with which he could totally surrender his addiction to.

Now one of the founders of Drug Addiction oVerdose Education (DAVE), Messina has made it her life’s duty to protect other families from losing a loved one to an overdose – by providing free training and naloxone (Narcan) kits in short two-hour public sessions throughout the Greater Philadelphia area.

Narcan, is a prescription-only drug that restores the breathing capabilities of somebody experiencing a opiate drug overdose. It does absolutely nothing to those not experiencing a drug overdose, as it only blocks brain receptors from recognizing the drug. While the public can purchase the drug from local pharmacies like CVS, Messina said the kits (which come with two doses) retail for $159 and are rarely kept in stock on a consistent basis. D.A.V.E. has access to kits through donations and is therefore able to purchase them for half of the retail cost- providing them to the public for free.

On Monday night, Messina, joined with supporters of her organization and nearly five dozen members of the public, began another session off Veterans Highway in Middletown Township’s Levittown section at Steps To Recovery, an addiction treatment center. Messina commonly works with Elvis Rosado, a recovering addict, who now works for Prevention Point, a Philadelphia organization in the heart of Kensington, which began as a needle exchange program and remains the only sanctioned organization for needle exchange in the region.

Both Messina and Rosado have, since January 2015, organized 13 free training sessions throughout Bucks and Montgomery counties and passed out 1000 doses of the life saving drug, 59 kits alone were given out just Monday evening.  Members of the Union Fire Station in Bensalem heard about Messina’ free program and traveled out to the Levittown training to see how many kits they could take back with them. Members of the station said they use the medication so often that they can’t keep it in stock.

Rosado said he hopes one day to issue stickers that residents can place in their windows pledging they have Narcan – so that others in the neighborhood know where they can find it if a loved one suffers an overdose; a harsh reality in a suburb like Levittown – which has significantly grappled with the heroin epidemic in recent years.

Messina has been enamored that so many local municipality police departments in the region have “jumped on board” and started carrying the life-saving opioid blocker – but she says there is still so much to do.

Messina keeps a dose of Narcan close to her, carrying one with her in her purse at all times. “People say, yeah, you give them Narcan, and then they may go use again,” she said. “I tell them, yes, they may, and I hope that if they overdose, I’m there again to save them; and I’ll keep saving them until they see that their own life is worth saving.”

D.A.V.E. organizers have said the best way to stay updated on their program and future training dates is by following their Facebook page. 

To donate to D.A.V.E and help them purchase additional narcan kits, please visit their Go Fund Me.