OPIOID CRISIS: What overdoses in public restrooms mean for the service industry

NEW YORK (FOX5NY.COM) - The opioid crisis has spiraled so far out of control that it is now everywhere, including in the very coffee shops and restaurant bathrooms you may frequent every day.

"Our previous study showed 60 percent of business managers were encountering people using drugs in a bathroom within past six months," Dr. Brett Wolfson-Stofko said. "This is the reality we are in now and we need to respond accordingly."

Wolfson-Stofko is the lead researcher on an NYU study that shows that service-industry workers citywide are typically the first responders in an opioid overdose because it is happening in private bathrooms. His research shows that 14 percent found someone unresponsive and 90 percent of business managers have no training as to how to handle such a scenario.

"These are other people's children that are overdosing and suffering from opioid addiction at the moment," Wolfson-Stofko said. "And the big thing is, you can't get better if you are dead."

"I'm told its almost a trigger for some people in recovery, public bathrooms and things like that, because it's so common that people are using those as places to get high," said Peter Grayson, an addiction counselor with The Recovery Spot.

He said he believes Narcan should be widely available and that everyone, regardless of their job in the service industry, should learn how to use it because the statistics show that they are more likely to have to respond to an overdose than to another type of emergency.

Is it the reality? Yes. But should it be your barista, waitress, or cook's responsibility?

One of the biggest questions surrounding Narcan is "What if I use it on someone who didn't actually overdose?" Experts told Fox 5 that it won't harm someone but it is such a specific remedy and that it really can only help.