GREENFIELD — An organization looking to stem drug overdoses across Indiana is having free training on an opioid overdose reversal drug Saturday in Greenfield.
The Indiana Recovery Alliance will offer the naloxone training and distribute the drug at the Hancock County Public Library. Naloxone, which reverses the effects of opioid overdoses, is available without a prescription in Indiana.
Saturday’s training will educate attendees on opioid overdoses, naloxone administration and harm reduction, according to a news release from the Indiana Recovery Alliance. Attendees who successfully complete the training will be certified alliance volunteers able to distribute naloxone in their communities. The alliance will supply those volunteers with naloxone as needed, including unlimited intramuscular naloxone along with limited auto-injector and nasal versions.
The nonprofit works to distribute naloxone primarily to those who use drugs and their friends and families. That distribution model is critical, the organization says, as those are the people who are most often present during overdoses. The model is also important because drug users are less likely to call first-responders due to criminalization and stigma.
Drug users and their families are responsible for over 90 percent of overdose reversals reported in Indiana, according to the press release.
Christopher Abert, executive director of the Indiana Recovery Alliance, expressed his disagreement with the stance some take that naloxone provides a safety net for addicts and decreases their chance of recovery.
“Nothing decreases someone’s chance of recovery more than death,” Abert told the Daily Reporter.
He also dismissed views some hold that addicts should be imprisoned or left to die.
“Besides the fact that it’s inhumane, the truth of the matter is it’s also incredibly expensive,” he said, adding drug use should be decriminalized and resources should be diverted to addiction recovery.
Many police officers now carry naloxone, also known as Narcan, to reverse the effects of overdoses.
Robert Harris, a captain with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, said all sheriff’s department officers have been carrying naloxone on their duty belts since 2016. With the sheriff’s department being a countywide agency, having naloxone has been particularly beneficial when responding to overdoses in areas served by volunteer fire departments, Harris said. Sheriff’s department officers can often respond faster than medics in those locations, he added.
“Those few minutes are crucial,” Harris said.
Harris echoed Abert’s comments on views some hold on naloxone being more of a hindrance than a solution. He said he’s seen overdose survivors go into recovery and become advocates for others to do the same.
The Indiana Recovery Alliance has offices in Indianapolis, Evansville and Bloomington and distributes naloxone across the state. Private foundations and donations provide funding for the nonprofit’s naloxone and the alliance receives no funding from taxes or government agencies for naloxone distribution.
Since 2015, the alliance has distributed more than 35,000 doses of naloxone, with over 2,500 reversals reported. Most of the distribution has been in and around Monroe County, which saw a 10 percent drop in opioid fatalities in 2017, according to the news release.
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WHAT: Free naloxone training
WHEN: Noon Saturday, March 23
WHERE: Hancock County Public Library, 900 W. McKenzie Road, Greenfield
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All opioids: 9
Heroin: 1
Natural/semi-synthetic opioids: 4
Synthetic opioids: 5
Methadone: 0
Source: Indiana State Department of Health
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2016: 8
2017: 16
2018: 13
Source: Hancock County Sheriff’s Department
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