The Jackson County Health Department has again received a supply of overdose rescue kits from the Indiana State Department of Health to distribute to the community in an effort to help prevent fatal opioid overdoses.

“There were 15 deaths attributed to drug overdose in 2017 in Jackson County,” said Dr. Christopher Bunce, the county’s health officer.

The kits contain naloxone hydrochloride, a non-narcotic medication that reverses the life-threatening respiratory failure that is usually the cause of overdose deaths. Naloxone also is known by the trade name Narcan.

The kits are available to individuals free at the health department, 801 W. Second St., Seymour, during regular 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. business hours. A brief training on the medication’s use is available.

The newly opened C.A.R.E.S. Clinic also will have naloxone available from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursdays.

The local health department received this opportunity from the Indiana State Department of Health to make the kits available to schools, volunteer fire departments that make medical runs, as a backup to the first responders in the event that supplies run low and more importantly, to friends and family members of those who use the opioid drugs in the community, Bunce said.

“Having Narcan available is comparable to having a first aid kit in the home. No one wants to have to use it, but having one could save someone’s life,” he said.

The department is a registered naloxone dispenser at optin.in.gov, which lists entities that carry naloxone.

Individuals do not need to obtain a prescription from a private health care provider as long as they are requesting naloxone from an entity registered at optin.in.gov.

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What: Naloxone kits

Where: Jackson County Health Department, 801 W. Second St., Seymour

When: 8 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday at the department’s C.A.R.E.S. Clinic

Cost: Free

Information: For information on naloxone availability at the health department, call 812-522-6474. For information regarding the new harm-reduction C.A.R.E.S. Clinic, call 812-498-8890.

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