Opioid overdose is a deadly risk for anyone using or misusing the drug. With that in mind, Lincoln County Health and Human Services has partnered with the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, Springfield Treatment Center and Max’s Mission to provide free “overdose rescue kits” and education on how to use them.
The kits contain a pair of gloves, a C-P-R mask and (usually) two doses of Naloxone, a medicine used to reverse overdose. Jennifer Versteeg is Prescription Drug Overdose Coordinator for Linn, Benton, Lincoln counties. She says it isn’t just illicit drug users who should have a rescue kit.
“A lot of people don’t understand that if they have a prescription for opioids and they also have a prescription for sedatives for Xanax and Klonopin. That puts them at very high risk of overdose.”
Versteeg says sometimes patients forget they have taken their prescription drug and take it again. She says caregivers are encouraged to carry a rescue kit at all times.
Educational event information:
Thursday September 26th from 6pm - 8pm at the Center for Health Education in Newport.
http://file:///P:/Tiffany/LINCOLN%20CO%20NALOXONE%20KITS/Naloxone%20Poster%20newport.pdf
