PORTLAND, Oregon — Outside the Moda Center Friday night, Teddy and Chris Rupert handed out Narcan to Billy Strings fans before the concert. Amid a growing epidemic — and what could likely be the highest number of overdose deaths in a single year, according to first responders in Portland — the couple wants to do their part to make a difference and save lives.
"There's maybe this thing that the Narcan is like, 'Oh, it's a get out of jail free card,' but it's certainly not and it's not meant to be that way," Teddy Rupert said. "It's just meant to like, save somebody who maybe accidentally has ingested it."
On behalf of a new Portland nonprofit called "H33ling the Herd," they spread both the word and the medicine that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. They plan to hand it out on Saturday night as well.
"People have been very open to it. Mostly they've wanted it, not necessarily coming up to us, but definitely being receptive to taking it," Chris Rupert explained.
The couple knows the need is great, not just at shows or within the music community, but seemingly everywhere. Pills and powders taken by accident, and sometimes on purpose, aren't always what they seem — particularly with the flood of fentanyl into the drug supply.
"It's an epidemic and it's nationwide," said Teddy Rupert. "It's a tough time, you know ... it's a tough time for everybody."
Just within the last week, Portland police said paramedics revived a 15-month-old girl with Narcan after a possible overdose. Firefighters believe the toddler ingested tin foil covered in fentanyl residue. Fentanyl is also the suspected cause of death for a 15-year-old, a sophomore at Jefferson High.
Since mid-June, police said they've investigated seven other cases of suspected fentanyl overdoses of teens and children. Four of those overdose were fatal.
"It's terrifying," said Chris Rupert. "I mean, we have teenage children, and so that's a lot of the reason that we're out here spreading this information because we want not only our community, the music community, our community in Portland to be safe, but our kids as well."