A North Texas mother founded a nonprofit charity to teach first responders how to deal with fentanyl overdoses.
Callie Crow founded Drew’s 27 Chains in June 2021 in honor of her late son, Drew, who passed away due to an opioid overdose.
Drew’s 27 Chains is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing awareness to and alleviating opioid overdoses.
Crow is now teaching local first responder departments how to use ZIMHI.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. This drug is normally safe when taken as prescribed by a doctor, but accidental overdoses can occur when it is illegally manufactured and mixed with other substances like counterfeit pills, heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
Cases of fentanyl-related harm, overdoses, and deaths in Texas and the United States are linked to illegally made fentanyl.
75,673 deaths were reported in the United States as a result of opioid overdoses in April 2021, according to the Texas Rescue Patrol. This figure has risen from 56,064 recorded deaths for 2020.
ZIMHI is a new opioid antagonist medication intended for emergency treatment of opioid overdose cases. This medicine is administered through an EpiPen into the thigh of an individual and provides a stronger dose of naloxone into the body.
This medication is available through pharmacies without the need for a prescription.
“It is definitely a game-changer. These people are becoming more awake and conscious and breathing on their own faster than with a nasal spray,” said Crow, according to CBS News.
Crow said that she wished medical professionals had used this method on her son, then 27 years old, who overdosed on fentanyl in 2020. The responding officer didn’t administer naloxone, and Drew passed away after 36 hours in the ICU.
Naloxone is a medicine that quickly reverses the effects of an opioid overdose.
Drew’s 27 Chains previously partnered with the Texas Rescue Patrol and donated rapid deployment Narcan nasal spray kits to the Hudspeth County police department for every patrol vehicle.
