EG America is offering NaloxBoxes, an opioid overdose reversal kit, at Cumberland Farms and Fastrac locations in Massachusetts and New York, Franck Lamour, corporate safety manager at EG America, told CSP. The Westborough, Massachusetts-based convenience-store chain has about 40 kits and is in the process of adding more in Massachusetts and Maine.
- Read Crisis in the C-Store, the award-winning CSP magazine feature on c-stores and the opioid crisis.
The boxes contain Naloxone, a medication approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Naloxone, or Narcan, is not a controlled substance, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), so it can be sold over the counter.
The boxes contain two kits, each with a nasal spray that can be squeezed into one nostril to release the entirety of its contents. That should reverse the opioid reaction.
Narcan or naloxone can reverse an opioid reaction in a minute or two but is not a substitute for emergency help, said Lamour. Once it’s applied, call 911. Naloxone is safe to use, even in cases that seem like an opioid overdose but are not, Lamour said. Once administered, if that person was not having an opioid overdose, it will not harm them.
“Opioid overdose is something that happens, especially when people misuse even their prescription drugs. It's not something that people should be ashamed of trying to help with. If they can help, they should help. Because it happens everywhere, anywhere from infants to adults. And it doesn't discriminate against any class of people.”
“It is important,” he said. “According to health departments, many overdose incidents occur in parking lots. We are in these communities where often there is a case like an opioid overdose, so we are very well positioned to try to save a life.”
While one store in Massachusetts has a kit located in the parking lot, most of them are inside on the wall, either by the counter or toward the chain’s restaurant, Lamour said.
EG America works in partnership with community health departments and installs kits in areas where data shows there is a “hotspot” of incidents.
“Any community that has a need, we are open to finding them help,” he said. “All we hope is that we do not have to intervene in any area. But, if they're in need, and they're having many opioid overdose cases, we are going to step in and make the kits available. They can save a life.”
The chain has been learning and planning since 2021, but the initiative began in 2022, when it installed its first kit in a New York store.
The medication is gaining more traction at convenience stores; a new initiative by Cook County Sheriff Thomas Dart and community advocates will make naloxone more accessible, the Sheriff’s Office said.
The office—in partnership with Cook County Commissioner Dennis Deer and Matthew McFarland from the Lawndale Christian Legal Center—will provide Zimhi, an injectable device with a high dose of naloxone, for free at gas stations in Chicago neighborhoods that have had high numbers of reported overdoses.
Convenience store and gas station parking lots and bathrooms have been among the common locations of opioid overdoses, according to media reports.
- EG America, with retail brands including Cumberland Farms, is No. 5 on CSP’s 2023 Top 202 ranking of c-store chains by number of company-owned retail outlets.
With more than 1,600 retail locations and more than 18,000 team members across the U.S., EG America operates Certified Oil, Cumberland Farms, Fastrac, Kwik Shop, Loaf N’ Jug, Minit Mart, Sprint Food Stores, Tom Thumb, Turkey Hill and Quik Stop stores. The company focuses on guest experience, high-quality grocery and fuel products and supporting its communities. EG America is owned by EG Group, a UK-based fuel station and convenience store retailer with more than 50,000 team members across the UK, Europe, Australia and the U.S.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.