A retired Florida firefighter is changing lives. Through active fundraising, he is distributing a free nasal spray that can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose in vulnerable communities across the nation.
Luis Garcia, from Boynton Beach, Florida, and his army of volunteers have brought 176 overdose victims back from the brink of death in the almost three years since the mission’s onset.
Garcia, 53, shared his story with The Epoch Times in an email interview.
The Wonder Drug
A trained firefighter and paramedic with 28 years of experience, Garcia retired from Boynton Beach Fire Rescue in 2011. In December of 2016, he was alerted to a new FDA-approved layperson-administered drug that had the capacity to reverse an opioid overdose.Garcia noted that the drug, a nasal spray named Narcan, delivers a dosage of naloxone four to eight times higher than the initial dosage administered by first responders in the case of an overdose.
“My inspiration was simple science,” Garcia, who got on board, explained. “A higher dose of naloxone, easily administered by anybody, would save many more lives.”
Alluding to who can use Narcan, Garcia told The Epoch Times that “Any one-day-old baby, animal, 100-year-old lady weighing 70 pounds, or muscular 30-year-old man who has overdosed 10 times will respond to Narcan.” But Narcan, he clarified, will only work in the event of an opioid overdose. It will neither help nor hurt any other medical condition.
After being denied a state grant, Garcia made the selfless decision to spend $50,000 of his own money on almost 4,900 Narcan sprays, worth around $50 a dose. “[I] donated them to my students,” he said, “who have saved 176 human lives in 33 months.”
Community Involvement
Garcia’s mission to deliver free Narcan to the communities most affected by the opioid crisis is multifaceted. “I offer free two-hour community classes, do 30-minute classes at community health fairs, have created three one-hour training videos, and also do 15-minute classes for the homeless,” Garcia explained.Garcia keeps his finger on the pulse of his local Florida community and stresses that additional support is vital.
“I listen to fire rescue scanner radios and respond in real time, when I’m close, to administer Narcan,” he said. “Also, I visit businesses where an overdose occurred to offer free sprays and training.”
When asked whether any overdose cases have affected him emotionally, Garcia explained that he is careful to remain “clinically detached.”
“During my career, I administered [Narcan] over 3,000 times,” he said. “I have also personally sprayed 16 victims in Southeast Florida and saved 15 of them with one spray. In the beginning I was touched by success stories, but the unhappy endings overwhelmed my heart.”
‘Hope Exists’
However, Garcia believes that his mission’s biggest obstacle is the stigma attached to addiction, and the commonly held “false belief” that opioid addiction is a choice. “No addict chooses a life of pain and anguish,” he said.Reflecting further on the challenges he faces, Garcia said: “Unless a person lost somebody to the disease of substance use disorder, or is in 12-step recovery of any kind, or works in the addiction field, or knows a young person battling drugs whom they consider a ‘good person,’ most people do not understand this disease or actively support my mission.”
The retired firefighter has no personal experience with drugs or addiction, but after decades spent working with others, he firmly believes that change is possible. “Hope exists,” he asserted, “if the person seeks professional help.”
Past, Present, and Future
Looking back on a longevous career of helping people, Garcia cited the “greatest highlights” of his vocational life as “delivering 17 babies in the back of my paramedic ambulance,” and “rescuing an unconscious female from an inferno-like house fire in 2008.”Garcia’s retired status is not stopping him from continuing his efforts to help save lives. On March 1, 2020, Garcia’s mission became an official Florida nonprofit awaiting IRS approval and is steadily gaining visibility.
In the wake of the pandemic, which has swept across the world, Garcia has pledged up to five months of his time to focus on providing personal protective equipment, free of charge, to the public during drive-up events. In addition, Garcia also mentioned that he will continue to distribute Narcan.
“I do not consider myself a hero,” Garcia reflected. “Each of the 176 persons with no fire rescue background who attended my two-hour class, and then sprayed a stranger, is the hero.”
