EG America has partnered with local health authorities to provide some of its stores with NaloxBoxes. The small, clear boxes are labeled “Opioid Rescue/Emergency Kit” and contain four doses of naloxone (commonly known as Narcan), a medication designed to reverse and block the effects of opioids in someone who has overdosed.
Naloxone, an FDA-approved over-the-counter nasal spray, only works if an active opioid overdose is occurring. The medication can help people overdosing from opioids such as heroin, fentanyl, morphine and oxycodone.
Franck Lamour, corporate safety manager at EG America, said, “Fentanyl overdoses are the number one opioid cause of death. And it’s happening in many of the communities where we operate.”
“It would be insensitive to not do anything about it,” Lamour added. “If there is something we can do, we should do it. We can try to save at least one life.”
The initiative first began in 2021 when the Adirondack Health Institute approached the convenience retailer. The first NaloxBox was installed in 2022. Since then, NaloxBoxes have been placed in more than 30 Fastrac and Cumberland Farms locations.
“From there, we’ve been working with various counties, cities and towns to adopt that same initiative,” Lamour said. “Though we still have stores and communities where we have not done any installations because there hasn’t been a local need.”
The company has focused on installing the NaloxBoxes in stores that are located in communities struggling with the opioid epidemic. EG America, Lamour noted, would be happy to not have to expand the program.
“If things get better, and there is no need to expand the program to more communities, then we’ll be happy. But if there is a need, then we’re going to do it,” he said. “We never stop working with different communities. Even if it’s a single store in an opioid overdose hotspot, we’ll try to help with our initiative.”
“We have to give thanks to our operations managers and field support staff. We work with them to make sure that we can educate our team members at the store about the program,” Lamour said.
“There can be a little misconception about the program. You don’t invite people by installing the emergency kit in your store,” Lamour stated. “Instead, the kit gives you the chance to save a life.”