Retired Boynton firefighter educates, hands out free anti-overdose drugs

Holding a small nasal spray above his head, Luis Garcia announced to a crowd of addiction specialists, medical professionals and citizens in Delray Beach that "Narcan is a magic drug. This will save lives."

Garcia, a retired firefighter from Boynton Beach, has used the nasal spray a dozen times to bring overdose victims back from the cusp of death. On that recent Tuesday afternoon, he handed free boxes of the anti-overdose drug Narcan to the group.

Describing what he has witnessed convinced Garcia of the drug's benefits.

“They were blue, gray, purple. They were dead, by all definitions,” he said of people who had overdosed. “It’s shockingly amazing how this thing works.”

Narcan, the brand name for the anti-overdose drug naloxone, reverses the effects of heroin to restore breathing to someone who overdoses.

Garcia has used some form of the drug countless times in his two decades as a firefighter. But about a year ago, he started giving away his personal stash of the over-the-counter drug, worth about $50 a dose, to anyone willing to spray it into the nostrils of a stranger who would otherwise die of an opioid overdose.

“Everyone assumes people are dying in sober homes or private residences,” Garcia said. “That’s not the case. People are dropping dead in convenience stores, fast food restaurants, churches, homeless camps.”

Why wait for police?

Garcia, 52, is on a mission: deliver free Narcan to communities most affected by the opioid crisis. Police and paramedics in Palm Beach County are equipped with the drug, which was made available at most pharmacies about two years ago.

But, Garcia argues, why wait for police to respond to a 9-1-1 call when the person dialing, who witnesses the overdose, can reverse the effects of opioids?

“Only way to change is to appeal to the Good Samaritans, the folks who will help a stranger out of the kindness of their hearts,” he said.

Garcia has spent the past year visiting more than 60 Florida cities, including Port Orange in August, handing out free Narcan and teaching two-hour courses on how to respond to an overdose.

His mission was recently bolstered by crowd-funding website GoFundMe, which featured Garcia as one of its annual “Heroes.” With a spotlight on GoFundMe’s website, Garcia raised over $40,000 to deliver Narcan throughout the country.

He plans to deliver Narcan to cities in West Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee in the next few months.

“We won’t solve addiction,” Garcia said, “but if we could wipe out the deaths from addiction, shouldn’t we?”

Local overdoses were alarming

Garcia hasn’t lost a loved one to an overdose or used the drug. His dedication to delivering an overdose cure to communities started shortly after he retired from Boynton Beach Fire Rescue in 2011.

Garcia took a job in insurance restoration that forced him listen to police scanners for smoke, fire and mold calls. He heard countless reports of overdoses in Boynton Beach.

When Narcan was available at drug stores, Garcia bought the over-the-counter drug and responded to nearby overdose calls. He used the drug on a dozen strangers. He says 11 survived.

Last year, Garcia applied for grant money from the state to distribute Narcan to communities, but he was denied.

He had $40,000 saved at the time, set aside for an SUV, his dream retirement ride.

“My girlfriend said to me, ‘To think, the cost of a human life is just $50 for a dose of Narcan and they rejected you,’” Garcia said. “And here we were looking for a luxury SUV. I thought about it and said I need to change my focus.”

He spent his savings on Narcan and has handed out more than 13,000 doses of the anti-overdose drug in Florida. Ninety-seven people who got free Narcan from Garcia have successfully used the drug to revive an overdose victim.

“It sends chills down my spine to think of it,” he said.

Does the drug lead to reckless opioid use?

The mission isn’t without criticism, though. Many argue that Narcan is a safety net that allows addicts to overdose without fear of death.

“I hear the rumors of ‘Narcan parties’ where addicts overdose for pleasure, but it’s a myth,” Garcia said. “And at the end of the day, this is human life we’re talking about. A dead person can’t graduate from recovery.”

At his Tuesday class in Delray Beach, Garcia used a CPR dummy to show attendees how to safely spray Narcan into a patient’s nostrils. There are no negative consequences, he assured the crowd.

Narcan won’t hurt a patient who is having an asthma attack, or heart attack, or other medical conditions that might mimic an overdose, he said.

Phillip Causey, an addiction counselor from North Palm Beach, was in the audience Tuesday. It was his second time at one of Garcia’s classes.

Causey said he used Garcia’s Narcan once before, nine months ago in Lake Park where he happened upon an overdose victim outside a halfway house, he said.

“Maybe it was fear or stupidity, but I pushed aside a crowd of people around him and I just pulled out the Narcan and sprayed it into his nose,” Causey said. “I was so scared I just walked away afterward.”

If administered within eight minutes of an overdose, the drug can quickly revive a patient with little side effects, Garcia said.

Sarah Couper, a nurse from Miami, travels with Garcia throughout Florida to educate law enforcement officers, medical professionals and addiction specialists on how to use the overdose antidote.

Couper’s son, Max, died of an overdose two years ago.

“If I can help save somebody by spreading Narcan, it would help me feel like my son didn’t die in vain,” Couper said.