Goal: Reduce the Number of Substance Abuse Related Emergency Room Visits and Deaths
D
eaths related to opioid abuse continue to be a growing concern in Lake County. During the first three
quarters of 2015, 46 people died due to drug overdoses. However, this number would have been larger
if not for the efforts of the Lake County Opioid
Initiative, which is working to prevent opioid use,
abuse, misuse, addiction, overdose and death. As a member of the
initiative, the Health Department helped save the lives of 45
residents who had overdosed on opioids in 2015.
The Department secured a 12,000-dose donation of naloxone, a
medication used to reverse drug overdoses. This was an amount
Residents who overdosed on
large enough for all police officers in Lake County to carry the
opioids who were saved by
product in their squad cars. The Department then trained law
naloxone in 2015.
enforcement officers to use it. Officers with more than 35 local
police departments as well as the Sheriff’s Office now carry naloxone in their cars and use it when responding to
calls of suspected opioid overdose. Additionally, Health Department patients as well as friends and family members
of patients are eligible to receive free training on naloxone. In 2016, the Department’s training efforts are expanding
to include training nurses in school settings to use naloxone, now that a new law is in place that increases access to
emergency care and treatment for opiate overdose.
Mark Herzog (second from left), Vice
President of Corporate Affairs for kaleo,
receives recognition for his company’s
12,000-dose donation of naloxone.
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