Half-a-dozen nurses from around the state attended a training event this week as part of Community Health Network’s efforts to increase awareness of and access to naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug.
The network also plans to hold training sessions for the public at its facilities in central Indiana, Kokomo and Anderson.
Community Health’s Director of Pain Management Kim Sharp says participants will learn about the signs and symptoms of an overdose, as well as free naloxone kits and directions for using them.
She says Hoosiers need to know Indiana law makes the drug available to anyone who wants to have it on hand to counteract a possible overdose.
“We are the 15th in the nation for drug overdose deaths, and we are one of the 14 states that have had a significant increase,” Sharp says.
Clinical Pharmacist Brian Sedam says people who purchase naloxone at Indiana pharmacies have four options.
“There are two products that they can deliver via the nose and there are two medications that are given into the muscle,” Sedam says.
He says any pharmacist should be able to explain how to use naloxone.
You can find more information about drug overdose prevention at the State Health Department website, www.in.gov/isdh.
