(NECN: Ally Donnelly, Boston) - Brendan McGoff started abusing OxyContin when he was 15 and quickly moved on to heroin.
"Unfortunately, it's probably one of the best feelings you'll ever get, euphorically," the South Boston man said.
The recovering addict, who is now 27 and 6 months sober, says his low came in a Southie stairwell after shooting a $40 bag of heroin.
"I just went out," he said. "I just fell asleep, like drifting off."
Fortunately for McGoff, the Boston Firefighter who responded to a passersby's 911 call was a paramedic and had Narcan -- a nasal spray which blocks the effect and essentially reverses an opioid overdose.
At a South Boston police station Tuesday morning, Mayor Marty Walsh announced he'll be putting Narcan in the hands of every first responder, including all Boston police officers and firefighters.
"We are losing daughters and sons, sisters and brothers, mothers and fathers," said Walsh. "I know three people have died in the city of Boston in the last 48 hours due to heroin overdoses."
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According to the Boston Public Health Commission, unintentional overdoses have jumped nearly 40 percent in the city recently with a 76 percent increase in heroin overdoses from 2010 to 2012.
Health commission outreach worker Berto Sanchez administered Narcan to an overdose victim for the first time last year. He describes what most victims look like, "Blue lips, usually pale, completely unresponsive," he said.
He says every time is terrifying, but Narcan is a powerful tool in the war against drugs -- keeping addicts alive so they can hopefully get help.
"One thing gives me a lot of confidence is knowing that it's going to work," Sanchez said.
Recovering addict Patrick Cronin agrees, "To shoot a bag of heroin and to wake up and I'm on a stretcher and I have no recollection? That just shows me how powerful it is."
Cronin says Narcan saved and changed his life. The 34-year-old quit drugs and started working for the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery. The non profit championed the 2012 Good Samaritan law which protects non-dealers from prosecution if they call 911 when someone they're with is overdosing. He says the law, coupled with wider Narcan distribution can make a major difference.
"I'm sick of seeing this kids die," he said.
City officials will spend the next several months training police officers and firefighters how to use Narcan (Boston EMTs and paramedics already carry the nasal must kits). Also this month, they will begin hosting training and information centers in five Boston neighborhoods teaching people what to do in the event of an overdose and how to get access to Narcan.
