Volunteers handed out free naloxone at four locations in Carbon and Schuylkill counties on Thursday for Save A Life Day, as part of a grassroots effort that started in West Virginia and expanded to 30 states.

Heather Barna-Dowling, owner of River Lotus Recovery, handed out boxes of naloxone, a nasal spray containing medication that reverses an opioid overdose, in the Turkey Hill parking lot in Lansford.

She provided people with information on the overdose reversing drug and instructions on how to use it, as well as resources in the community.

Barna-Dowling explained that it was important to get the information and reversal drug out and into the hands of people who could one day save a life with its use.

A woman who stopped at the tent wanted a box to give to each of her children, and keep on hand at home, because you never know when the need may arise, as even young children, possibly even her grandchildren, could be exposed to illegal drugs and need the reversal medication.

Barna-Dowling, a certified recovery advocate, said that the drug can help with people who are taking a prescription opioid drug for pain, and accidentally overdose by taking a second dose.

She had more than 1,200 doses of the naloxone available for the Save A Life Day event, which also had a presence at Hope and Coffee in Tamaqua, Rep. Doyle Heffley’s Weissport office and Alfie’s Pizza in Lehighton.

The Save a Life Day events are designed to be in high-traffic, outdoor locations to reach as many people as possible, organizers said.

This is the second year that River Lotus Recovery is participating in the event, which has spread up and down the East Coast.