Narcan Available at Starke County Health Department

Posted on September 30, 2019
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

Those interested in obtaining the overdose reversal drug Narcan continue to have resources available. Over the past year, the Marshall and Pulaski county health departments have offered training events for the public.

Training sessions held by the Starke County Health Department have generally been limited to local police and fire departments, but the department does have doses available for the public, according to Health Nurse Frank Lynch. “If members of the public want any, they’re more than welcome to contact me,” he says, “and I can do a brief training with them, so I can supply them with some Narcan, if needed.”

He says that there are other groups who have offered public training in the local area, but there are some advantages to getting the drug through the Health Department. “It’s temperature-sensitive, so as far as this individual group, I have no idea how they’re keeping it, what have you, if it’s just being stored in the trunk of a car,” Lynch explains.

Additionally, the Health Department’s Narcan is administered nasally rather than by injection. “That’s kind of what you prefer,” Lynch explains. “That way, you don’t have extra syringes or anything like that floating around in the community.”

For more information, call the Starke County Health Department at 574-772-9137. You can find a list of other providers at optIN.in.gov.

State Health Officials Tout Success of Naloxone Kits

Posted on December 21, 2017
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

Opioid-antidote Narcan is having an impact on the number of overdose deaths. According to the Indiana State Department of Health’s winter newsletter, the rate of unintentional drug poisoning deaths increased by nearly 900 percent from 1999 to 2015. In 2016, over 1,800 Hoosiers died from drug poisoning, mainly from opioids.

State health officials say Narcan, also known by the generic name naloxone, is one of the main tools they have to help combat the opioid epidemic. The Indiana State Department of Health says it’s gotten over $1.3 million in state and federal funding to distribute naloxone throughout the state. The department has given out 13,720 naloxone kits this year.

Several local first responders have been getting a lot of use out of the drug. A Pulaski County Sheriff’s deputy’s use of Narcan on an overdose victim in Clinton County back in September earned him a recognition from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. That same month, Starke County first responders reportedly ran out of Narcan, after a series of five apparent heroin overdoses in a six-hour period.

Now, first responders in rural counties, like Marshall, Starke, and Pulaski, can apply to receive additional kits in 2018. This week, the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office got permission from the county commissioners to apply for the kits. Applications are due by January 12.

Legal Questions Prevent North Judson Firefighters from Carrying Narcan, Public Training Planned

Posted on June 22, 2017
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI

A recovering addict from the North Judson area wants to make Narcan more widely available in Starke County, so local residents can live to have a chance at recovery. Kevin Glisic says he was an active addict for nearly 20 years. Now, he serves as the executive director of Moraine House, a recovery-based transitional house in Valparaiso.

Glisic met with the North Judson Town Council Monday to discuss offering Narcan training classes for both first responders and the general public. The training would be conducted by the Overdose Lifeline, a non-profit group based in Indianapolis. Public training sessions would be about an hour long, and residents would be given Narcan free of charge.

North Judson-Wayne Township Fire Chief Joe Leszek says drug overdoses have caused his department’s medical calls to triple in the past few years. A big concern is fentanyl, a powerful synthetic drug often mixed with heroin. Leszek says firefighters now wear chemical-protective suits when responding to drug-related calls, to protect themselves from accidental overdose.

He says most of his firefighters have already been trained with Narcan, but they’ve stopped carrying it, due to legal concerns. “The reason we don’t carry Narcan right now is because the state is very unclear,” he explains. “We are a BLS non-transport department. So what that means for us is when we put in our state certification, there is not medication that we carry.”

Leszek is afraid that carrying the potentially life-saving drug could jeopardize the fire department’s certification. Officials from the Overdose Lifeline agreed to research the situation. Town Council President Wendy Hoppe also asked if grant funding may be available to purchase protective clothing for police officers.

Town officials expressed support for Narcan training and discussed some possible locations.