A potentially life-saving medication that rapidly reverses opioid overdose is now available to the public 24-7 at the Community Paramedicine Program’s building in downtown Crawfordsville.
Members of the program’s Quick Response Team and mental health provider Integrated Wellness on Thursday unveiled Montgomery County’s first NaloxBox, which contains free doses of naloxone, known by the brand name Narcan.
The box was installed on the front porch of the paramedicine program’s offices at the former Montgomery County Visitors & Convention Bureau building on East Pike Street.
“It’s just another step in normalizing [naloxone] a little bit more and making it more accessible — and hopefully treatment’s going to start to follow along with that,” said Shannon Fannin, a peer recovery specialist for Integrated Wellness.
The boxes are being deployed in each of the state’s 92 counties through a partnership between the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration’s Division of Mental Health and Addiction and nonprofit Overdose Lifeline Inc.
Funding came from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s state opioid response grant.
Advocates say the resource is key to reducing the stigma around the medication, which is carried and frequently used by local public safety personnel.
“For us, this is what a recovery-oriented community looks like … we’ve got to start breaking the stigma that this is just a 20-year-old kid dealing with addictions,” Paul Miller, Crawfordsville Fire Department division chief, said. “We have senior citizens dealing with addictions. We have pregnant women dealing with addictions. We have kids in school dealing with addictions.”
The naloxone kits also include information on local treatment and recovery resources.
“And the best thing about naloxone is that even if you’re not suffering from an opioid overdose, it’s not going to harm you anyway, so I think it’s better to be safe than sorry,” said InWell peer recovery specialist Maddy Edmiston.
The Quick Response Team and Inwell are looking for sites to hang additional boxes.
“I’m very proud that that’s right here in the heart of our city because a lot of people don’t have a car. Anybody can get here in a car or walking,” Mayor Todd Barton said.
The kits are not a replacement for calling 911 after administering the medication, advocates say. Paramedics can administer additional doses.
