Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Medi Greener Pathways has partnered with the Rensselaer County Public Health Department to develop a texting service to give active users the ability to request Narcan. The service went live April 29, and will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. “What we run into with some of the people is that they’re not all entirely comfortable talking with us on the phone,” Greener Pathways Program Director Carl Quinn said. “They’re much more comfortable texting. We thought text would be a better thing to try. Some of the people don’t have minutes on their phone. They can text over WiFi and not use their minutes.” Rensselaer County began offering the service about three weeks ago, Quinn said, adding that about 32 people have used it so far. When someone texts NARCANKIT to 21000, they receive a short form to complete. When Greener Pathways receives the form it then delivers the Narcan. Overdose numbers in Columbia and Greene counties continue to spike during the COVID-19 outbreak. Since March 1, there have been 19 overdoses, including one fatality, in Columbia County. In Greene County, there have also been 19 overdoses since March 1, with two fatalities. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.