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Indiana is using at least $100,000 from a recent pharmaceutical settlement to equip emergency responders with an opioid antidote that can reverse heroin overdoses.
file photoINDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indiana is using at least $100,000 from a recent pharmaceutical settlement to equip emergency responders with an opioid antidote that can reverse heroin overdoses.
Attorney General Greg Zoeller announced the new grant program Thursday at his sixth annual Prescription Drug Abuse Symposium in Indianapolis. The Journal Gazette reports that nonprofits registered with the Indiana State Department of Health will help distribute naloxone kits and provide training to law enforcement and other first responders who apply for the grant funding through Dec. 1.
Many police officers, firefighters and paramedics across the country are now carrying naloxone so they're prepared to respond to an opioid or heroin overdose.
Fifty-five of about 480 law enforcement agencies in Indiana have been trained and equipped with naloxone.
Zoeller says at least 165 lives have been saved by the antidote.
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