Northwell Health employee Michelle Di Bona helps revive driver on Long Island Expressway with Narcan

Michelle Di Bona was on the phone with a friend Tuesday afternoon while driving home from work on the Long Island Expressway when she heard a loud bang behind her.

At first, the Northwell Health operating room booking clerk said she assumed it was a car accident. But before she could look in the rearview mirror, a car zoomed past her in the HOV lane, bumping into the median multiple times, Di Bona recalled.

When the car finally came crashing to a halt near Exit 53 in Dix Hills, Di Bona, 57, said she and several other good Samaritans stopped and pulled the driver out of the car.

The man was unconscious and not breathing. Someone said they thought he was overdosing, she said.

"The moment I heard the word overdose, I ran to my car," the Middle Island resident said. "I don't know what clicked. It was second nature."

Di Bona said she grabbed the Narcan kit she keeps in her car and rushed over to the group gathered around the man, which happened to include a nurse. Di Bona said she instructed the nurse on how to use the spray, meant to rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. 

"After the second dose, he was walking and talking, jumped out of his car like there was absolutely nothing wrong, like nothing ever happened," she said in an interview Thursday. "It was actually quite amazing to see that turnaround."

Suffolk County police said the man was later arrested and charged with driving while ability impaired and two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. 

'The power to make a difference'

Di Bona's quick thinking highlights the importance of both carrying, and knowing, how to administer naloxone — more commonly known as Narcan — as the opioid addiction crisis continues to affect the country, said Dr. Sandeep Kapoor, vice president of Northwell Emergency Medicine Addiction Services.

"Everyone has the power to make a difference here, as Michelle demonstrated," he said.

For the past three years, Kapoor said Northwell has observed International Overdose Awareness Day on Aug. 31 by distributing Narcan kits at Northwell sites and training staff on how to use them.

This year, he said, Northwell gave out 3,300 rescue kits at 52 locations.

"We're trying to empower our team members to understand their power in supporting the community as well as our own families," he said.

Last year, Di Bona — who works at Long Island Jewish Medical Center — volunteered at the event and provided Narcan training to Northwell employees. She received refresher training this year, she said.

Keeping the kit on her person has now become standard routine, she said.

"Every day, when I put my wallet in my purse and I put my keys in ... it's always there," she said.

Community outreach planned

The state recorded 395 opioid deaths on Long Island last year, 139 in Nassau and 256 in Suffolk — a decrease from the more than 650 reported deaths in 2023. 

Kapoor said accessibility to Narcan kits, which can be obtained free from local health departments, purchased over the counter or through prescription plans, has helped to improve these statistics. But the fight isn’t over.

Nationwide, he said, "We're still losing over 80,000 family members a year. At the peak, we lost close to 110,000 family members. Even though there has been a significant reduction, we still have a lot of work to do."

Di Bona said Narcan training takes less than 10 minutes. 

"It's not a difficult thing. ... It's easier than teaching a child how to tie their shoes," she said.

Di Bona said she and Kapoor’s team are now planning to create community outreach for opioid awareness and Narcan kit instruction beyond Northwell employees.

To learn more about naloxone training and obtaining a Narcan kit or for information about opioid addiction programs, visit the New York State Department of Health website.