The Clinton County Health Department in partnership with Healthy Communities of Clinton County has received a supply of overdose rescue kits from the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) to distribute to the community in an effort to help prevent fatal opioid overdoses. The kits contain naloxone hydrochloride, a non-narcotic medication that reverses the life-threatening respiratory failure that is usually the cause of overdose deaths. Naloxone is also known by the trade name Narcan®.
The Clinton County Health Department and Healthy Communities of Clinton County has been partnering on this project for three years now. Upon review of the data, it was obvious that there was a gap in services for training and distribution out of the 46041 zip-code area. In an effort to reach these rural areas of our community, they will be sponsoring Narcan Rescue Kit training and distribution events in each of the small towns in our county. These events will be scheduled over the next 6 months.
“Clinton County has the third highest rate of non-fatal Emergency Department visits due to opioid overdoses in the state. Given this alarming statistic, it is imperative that we are providing education and Narcan rescue kits to lay individuals. This is a harm reduction approach that is saving lives in our community,” said Lorra Archibald, Executive Director of Healthy Communities of Clinton County.
Provisional ISDH data show that in 2016, 1,271 Hoosiers died of drug poisoning, while nearly 8,300 people visited Indiana emergency departments due to nonfatal opioid overdoses.
The Clinton County Health Department is a registered naloxone dispenser at www.optIN.in.gov, which lists entities that carry naloxone. Individuals in need of naloxone can request it from a registered entity using a statewide standing order signed by State Health Commissioner Jerome Adams, M.D., M.P.H. Individuals do not need to obtain a prescription from a private healthcare provider so long as they are requesting naloxone from an entity registered at www.optIN.in.gov.
Naloxone is approved by the Food and Drug Administration and has been used for more than 40 years by emergency medical services personnel to reverse opioid overdose and revive people who might have died without treatment. It is not addictive, and although it is only effective at reversing overdoses of opioid drugs like heroin or prescription painkillers, it is not harmful if administered to someone who has not taken opioids.
For information on treatment for substance use disorder, visit the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction website at http://www.in.gov/fssa/dmha.
In partnership with the FSSA and in use and/or execution of funding from the 21st Century Cures Grant.