Naloxone, also known by the brand names Narcan and Evzio, is a safe, FDA-approved medication that has been proven to reverse opioid overdoses in minutes. Naloxone comes in the form of a nasal spray and an injectable. Expanding the availability of naloxone, as well as providing education and outreach to individuals at risk of accidental overdose and their families, can help prevent the tragic and unnecessary loss of life due to overdoses. An important part of the continuum of care for overdose response and prevention is providing follow-up to individuals who have overdosed and their families. Follow-up services promote linkages to substance abuse treatment services and recovery supports and remove barriers to accessing these services.
COSSAP supports activities that:
Implement or expand activities to increase naloxone access to reduce overdose fatalities, including developing protocols for uniform emergency use; outfitting law enforcement, first responders, and health practitioners; and setting up distribution programs at program sites.
Implement or enhance post-overdose responses that reduce the risk of subsequent overdose and improve health outcomes, such as outreach, education, and warm handoffs to treatment and recovery services.
COSSAP grantees increasing access to naloxone
Pinellas County is developing a Strategic Information Partnership (SIP) to (1) support real-time/timely data collection from key stakeholders to better articulate the current state of the problem; (2) improve communication for targeted outreach, enforcement, and education; (3) support cross-system planning and data evaluation to better inform policymakers on targeted interventions; and (4) leverage scarce resources and avoid duplication of efforts.
The Savannah Police Department proposes to establish a pre-arrest diversion and behavioral response initiative by providing enhanced crisis intervention team training and offering substance abuse recovery treatment and behavioral health treatment. The applicant will provide data through Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP). David A. Bell, PhD, LLC, an independent evaluator, will serve as the evaluator for the proposed project.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) will build a sustainable data infrastructure to ensure timely collection, analysis, and dissemination of opioid data. In addition, an action researcher will establish a suspected drug-induced death mortality review team. The data will be shared with Idaho’s strategic planning workgroup and other stakeholders. To address vulnerable populations, IDHW will work with the Idaho Office of Drug Policy to distribute naloxone in communities across Idaho. To educate prescribers in rural Idaho on substance abuse treatment and safe prescribing, IDHW will work with the University of Idaho to extend its Project ECHO program, an evidence-based, technology-enabled collaborative learning model that builds a clinician’s knowledge and ability to treat complex conditions. To evaluate Idaho’s efforts in educating prescribers on safe prescribing and prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) utilization, IDHW will contract with a third-party evaluator.
