Lynbrook Neighborhood Watch members learn about nalaxone

Nearly 30 residents gathered at the Lynbrook Public Library on Oct. 3 to learn how to administer naloxone as part of the Lynbrook Neighborhood Watch’s fall meeting — which was its third gathering since it re-formed in the summer of 2017.

Town of Hempstead Councilman Anthony D’Esposito, a Republican from Island Park, spoke to the residents about protecting their prescribed opiate medication and said that U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams recently published an advisory encouraging more residents to carry naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.

“The hope is that no one has to use it, but if they do, they have all the resources to do so,” D’Esposito said.

D’Esposito noted that he polled the room before the training, and found that only two of the attendees previously attended a naloxone training. “The more people that are trained and the more people that are educated can only help,” D’Esposito said.

One of the watch members, Toni Holder, agreed. She said that she had never attended one of the trainings before the Neighborhood Watch event, and that she thought more people should be trained to administer naloxone. Holder also said that she thought D’Esposito’s presentation was “very thorough” and that he “did a terrific job.”

The naloxone training session served as the Lynbrook Neighborhood Watch’s third meeting. Mike Davies and Danielle DiGuiseppe re-formed the group in the summer of 2017 after several Long Islanders reported that their tires were stolen off of their cars. The watch disbanded more than a decade ago because of declining funds and membership. Davies and DiGuiseppe decided that the revitalized group would keep residents informed about crime in the area and discuss solutions to prevent future incidents.

“It’s well-documented that Lynbrook is one of the safest communities in the state,” said Davies, the co-chair of the group. “But we want to be proactive.”

Davies also said that he is considering starting smaller breakout sessions with police officers in early 2019.

For more information about the Neighborhood Watch, join its Facebook page. For a list of upcoming naloxone trainings, visit D’Esposito’s Facebook page or call his office at (516) 812-3242.