SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP, OH (WLIO) - The Shawnee Township Fire and Police Departments have teamed up with "HEALing Communities" to tackle the issue of local opioid-related deaths.
Allen County is among 18 Ohio Counties taking part in the "Healing Communities" study named "Project Dawn", which aims to reduce opioid-related overdose deaths and increase access to naloxone while promoting safer prescribing of opioids. Project Dawn receives funding from the "National Institute on Drug Abuse" which helps EMTs and police officers distribute naloxone kits.
"What this program is doing right now is called a leave-behind project. We're actually leaving behind Narcan, the drug that can reduce the opioid overdose. So, it's a benefit to the family to be able to administer, or friend, whoever. We can just leave the medication behind because now it's over the counter, so it's going to make it a lot better. Hopefully, it gets somebody turned around who's been involved with an overdose until help gets there after calling 911," said Chief Todd Truesdale, Shawnee Township Fire Department.
The project will help with ad campaigns to raise awareness about the problem and reduce the stigma about drugs used to help addicts.
