The Northern Kentucky Health Department will distribute free naloxone, also known as Narcan, to the general public at several locations on Thursday in honor of Save a Life Day.
Narcan is a drug used for reversing the effects of an opioid overdose. It’s usually administered as a nasal spray. The Health Department distributed more than 8,500 free naloxone kits last year, according to the department’s internal records.
Save a Life Day started in 2020 in West Virginia, a state that has been especially hit hard by opioid addiction, but has since grown to include organizations throughout the country. More than 84,000 doses were given out during Save a Life Day last year, according to a press release from the health department.
“Studies have shown that community members perform the vast majority of overdose reversals,” said Seth Steele, the department’s harm reduction program supervisor. “The reason for that is because timing is so vital. Friends and loved ones are generally the first to come across someone who has overdosed, and being able to administer naloxone immediately before EMS arrives can be the difference in saving that person’s life.”
The health department will be at the following locations on Sept. 25, distributing kits:
- Boone County Health Center, 7505 Burlington Pike in Florence from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Campbell County Health Center, 1098 Monmouth Street in Newport from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Kenton County Health Center, 1415 James Simpson Jr. Way in Covington from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Emergency Shelter of Northern Kentucky, 436 W. 13th Street in Covington from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- The PIER, 1002 Monmouth Street in Newport from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Florence Christian Church, 300 Main Street in Florence from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.
- Transitions, 313 Madison Pike in Erlanger from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Link NKY.
