Learn how to help battle the opioid crisis
Special training session in Elmhurst educates public on how to save users from overdoses
BY BILL PARRY
Queens residents will
have a chance to join the fight
against the nation’s ongoing
opioid crisis with a special
training session in Elmhurst
on Sept. 26.
As part of National Recovery
Month, Borough
President Melinda Katz will
join NYC Health + Hospitals
and the city’s Department
of Health in sponsoring an
event to educate members of
the public on how they can
save the lives of people suffering
from opioid overdoses.
“We are in the middle of
an opioid epidemic that has
claimed the lives of nearly
3,000 people in New York City
in the past two years alone,”
Katz said. “We can help address
this crisis by learning
how to administer potentially
lifesaving naloxone to those
overdosing on opioids, empowering
family members,
friends and neighbors with
the information to assist.”
Participants will learn
how to recognize an opioid
overdose and how to properly
and safely administer naloxone
medication to reverse it.
The free training session will
be held in the auditorium,
Room A1-22, at NYC Health +
Hospitals/Elmhurst, located
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz announces a free opioid overdose response training session
will be held in Elmhurst this month. Courtesy of Borough Hall
at 79-01 Broadway, from 10
a.m. to noon.
Naloxone is an “opioid antagonist”
that counteracts the
life-threatening depression
of the central nervous and
respiratory systems suffered
during an opioid overdose.
Administration of naloxone
can quickly restore normal
breathing and save the life of
a person overdosing on opioids.
It is a safe medication
widely used by emergency
medical personnel and other
first responders to prevent
opioid overdose.
“NYC Health + Hospitals/
Elmhurst is pleased to partner
with Queens Borough
President Melinda Katz and
the NYC Health Department
to host this critical program
about how to assist those at
risk for opioid overdose,” said
Israel Rocha, vice president
on NYC Health + Hospitals
and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/
Elmhurst. “Giving the
general public free training
on how to use naloxone can
empower Queens residents
to save lives and prevent further
overdose deaths.”
Naloxone kits will be provided
to the participants in
the training session. The effort
is part of HealingNYC, a
citywide initiative to prevent
opioid overdoses that helped
the city achieve a 3 percent
reduction last year in its
annual number of unintentional
drug overdose deaths,
its first annual reduction in
eight years.
The reduction was especially
sharp in Queens, which
saw its number of overdose
deaths drop from 270 in 2017
to 215 in 2018.
“Naloxone saves lives and
is helping us turn the tide
on the overdose epidemic,”
Health Commissioner Dr.
Oxiris Barbot said. “If you
or someone you know uses
drugs, it is essential to have a
naloxone kit on hand in case
of an overdose. This course
will teach you the steps in
responding to opioid overdose
and provide access to a
free kit.”
National Recovery Month
is sponsored each September
by the federal Substance
Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration to
increase awareness and understanding
about mental
and substance use disorders
and to celebrate the people
who recover from them.
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by email at bparry@schnepsmedia.
com or by phone at
(718) 260–4538.
LIC man gets 8 years for helping to run drug ring
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
After admitting to participating
in a lucrative drugdealing
ring near Astoria’s
Ravenswood Houses, a Long
Island City man will be
spending the next eight years
in a state prison.
Jamarl Gilmore, 38, of
35th Avenue in Long Island
City pleaded guilty back in
July to second-degree criminal
sale of a controlled substance.
On Sept. 5, he was
ordered to serve an 8-year
prison sentence, followed by
five years’ probation, according
to acting Queens District
Attorney John Ryan.
“The defendant admittedly
sold drugs to the members
of this community. In
doing so, the defendant and
his operatives unknowingly
traded drugs for cash with
undercover detectives, who
were part of a long-term investigation,”
Ryan said on
Thursday. “The sentence
meted out today by the Court
sends a strong message to
other individuals who make
money selling poison in our
neighborhoods.”
Prosecutors said the ring
operated in and around the
Ravenswood Houses between
March and June of 2018.
Gilmore acted as the leader
of the operation, which the
Queens North Gang Squad
and the Queens DA Narcotics
Investigation Bureau busted
through an intricate operation
that involved court-authorized
eavesdropping.
Law enforcement agents
recorded phone conversations
in which Gilmore and
six others charged in the ring
allegedly discussed dealing
cocaine and/or heroin with
customers near the public
housing complex. They also
arranged for undercover
officers to buy narcotics
directly from Gilmore and
his associates.
Photo via Getty Images
Gilmore was initially arrested
on Aug. 1, 2018, and
others were picked up by police
in April of this year for
their roles in the drug-running
business.
The cases against the
other defendants are still
pending, Ryan noted.
Reach reporter Robert Pozarycki
by email at rpozarycki@
qns.com or by phone at
(718) 260-4549.
4 TIMESLEDGER, SEPT. 13-19, 2019 BT QNS.COM
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