Marshall Co. has seen a spike in drug overdoses in the county from Nov. 24-25. Health Dept. to offer Narcan training
Last week the Marshall County Health Department (MCHD) was notified by the Indiana State Department of Health Overdose Surveillance Team of a spike in drug overdose events in Marshall County for the period of November 24-25, 2018. The county had seven overdose events in that time period. No deaths were reported in any of the overdoses.
The Marshall County Health Department holds a grant through the Indiana State Department of Health Division of Injury Prevention to distribute naloxone or Narcan Kits to the community. Narcan is the lifesaving medication that can reverse an overdose of an opioid. In many places, it can be prescribed or available over the counter as it has no potential for abuse or dependency. The US Surgeon General, Dr. Jerome Adams, issued a Surgeon General Advisory on Naloxone stating “Each day we lose 115 Americans to an opioid overdose – that’s one person every 12.5 minutes. It is time to make sure more people have access to this life saving medication because 77% of opioid overdose deaths occur outside of a medical setting and more than half occur at home. Christine Stinson, the administer of the Marshall County Health Department states, “We would like to see as many citizens carrying the lifesaving Narcan Kit as possible, Narcan saves lives. PERIOD. We are still in the midst of the opioid crisis in the United States, in the Midwest, in Indiana, and yes, in Marshall County. This is a public health crisis, and in times of crisis, public health must respond. That is what we are doing by offering the Narcan Program.”
The Health Department will be conducting two community trainings to distribute Narcan Kits to anyone who attends one of the trainings. The trainings will take place at the Community Resource Center Conference Room on December 11 at 11am and 6:30pm. It will include a brief presentation and demonstration on how to properly identify and respond to an overdose, lasting about an hour. With the holidays upon us, the health department encourages anyone who knows of family members at risk, oversees employees, works in a school system, or anyone with an interest in this lifesaving training to come and leave with a Narcan kit. For more information regarding other offerings of Narcan Trainings contact Jacob Baylis, the Health Educator for the Marshall County Health Department.
This also serves as a reminder to properly dispose of your expired or unused medication. It is NOT safe to dispose of them in your trash or down the toilet. Take them to a pill-drop location near you. One of the pill drop-off sites is at the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department at 1400 Pioneer Drive in Plymouth and one is at the Bremen Police Department at 123 South Center Street. Please contact Marshall County Health Department if you have any questions regarding any part of this message at 574-865-8535, Monday-Friday from 8-4.
