Megan Navarro
KYLE — With a passion for serving and educating the community, Red Heart CPR was one of the first businesses in Hays County to receive a public Narcan vending machine Friday, Dec. 12.
According to statistics obtained from the Hays County Sheriff’s Office, there have been a total of 69 overdoses and 20 deaths caused by overdoses from the span of Jan. 1, 2022, to Nov. 15, 2025, as reported by the agency — the highest demographic of these is ages 18 to 20 years old.
Though the numbers have decreased since 2022, as stated by HCSO’s statistics, Red Heart CPR applied for the opportunity to receive the vending machine through Narcan Texas, Be Well Texas and UT Health San Antonio, in an effort to help the people who need it. This is the first private business in Hays County to receive the machine, according to Red Heart CPR founder and lead instructor Sherry Hamilton.
This is a resource that is needed in the county, Hamilton said, as they have trained thousands in lifesaving skills, but they kept seeing a gap of people who did not always have immediate access to help with one overdose or did not know where to get it.
“I would always send people in my classes to Austin resources to get it and educate them how to go through pharmacies and that they didn't need a prescription to get it. I saw the need rising every time I would provide the education,” she explained. “For over a year, I’ve been handing out Narcan in my classes to those that desired it and I was amazed to see how many people actually wanted and they felt like they needed it [because] they had a loved one or someone they knew that unfortunately have an addiction or something like that that many didn't know about.”
She added that the mother behind the Forever 15 Project — started after losing her son, Noah, in August 2022 to fentanyl poisoning — came to one of her events. It opened her eyes that Hays County was on the map for fentanyl, not Narcan, and she wanted to help make a change.
The vending machine — offered free of charge — is available outside of the Red Heart CPR office 24 hours a day, seven days a week and anyone will be able to use it, but there will be a limit of two boxes per person. No personal information will be asked for those who use the machine.
Hamilton’s hope for the vending machine being accessible at Red Heart CPR is the educational part. In doing so, she stressed that the facility offers free education classes that will help teach the community how and when to use Narcan, with a goal of having them on the first Friday of every month, starting in January.
“Narcan doesn’t enable addiction. It prevents death and that’s what I want to get out there. Recovery is only possible if someone survives and so, it’s important for Hays County to at least have the resources and the education,” she emphasized. “You don't want to just give it to people without them knowing how to use it. They must know how to and when to use the Narcan.”
Learn more about Red Heart CPR — located at 1109 Interstate 35 Frontage Road, Kyle — at www.redheartcpr.com.
