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The Clark County Health Department is providing a rural community with a Community Aid Station to help save lives in emergency situations. The Community Aid Station is equipped with an automated external defibrillator (AED), Stop the Bleed Kit and Narcan, and is registered on PulsePoint. PulsePoint is a mobile app connected to the Clark County 911 system that notifies CPR-trained bystanders of an emergency and the location of community aid stations. The Community Aid Station was installed at Sweathogs Bar & Grill, located at 305 Ind. 62 in New Washington, Indiana. Staff of the restaurant will be offered CPR and Narcan training provided by the Clark County Health Department.
“Our goal is to have one in essentially every community in the county within 10 minutes or less,” said Clark County Health Officer Dr. Eric Yazel. Several similar Community Aid Stations will be installed in Clark County. The Community Aid Station was supported through the Indiana Communities Advancing Recovery Efforts (IN CAREs) grant from the state.
On Monday Dec. 6, Rep. Donald Norcross, D-N.J., and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., announced legislation that would allow certain opioid users in treatment to take home methadone prescriptions from pharmacies. This legislation, known as the Opioid Treatment Access Act, would ease restrictions that were approved during the coronavirus pandemic permanent.
As drug overdose deaths hit a record high during the pandemic, patients were required to make daily trips to clinic to get single doses of methadone, a leading medication to treat opioid use disorder. Sen. Ed Markey stated that opioid use disorder “is a crisis that has gone under the radar because of the COVID pandemic. It has never been more important to modernize and expand how patients receive opioid treatment.” According to preliminary studies, despite a near-doubling of take-home methadone doses during the COVID-19 exemption period, the increase in take-home doses was not associated with negative treatment outcomes in methadone-adherent clients. Rep. Norcross said his legislation would reduce the stigma around methadone treatment and enforce greater collection of data about methadone use. This would enable medical professionals to assess its effectiveness and allow patients to use telehealth services to track their treatment plans.
 The first of 19 Narcan vending machines was installed at the St. Joseph County Jail this month. Naloxone, commonly known as Narcan, is a medication that can quickly stop and reverse an opioid overdose by blocking the brain’s opioid receptors. The other 18 Narcan vending machines will be installed around Indiana and will be purchased and installed by the Indiana nonprofit, Overdose Lifeline. The machines are being purchased with a $72,600 federal grant, so there is no cost for entities that choose to house one. The vending machines will be located in high-traffic areas.
Overdose Lifeline Executive Director, Justin Phillips said since the machine is located at the county jail, it’s easily accessible to people who were recently incarcerated. “This population (St. Joseph County) is 130 times more likely to experience an overdose death within two weeks of their release,” Phillips said.
“We cannot treat death, but we can treat substance abuse. I can’t tell you the number of people we’ve seen who’ve been saved by this medication and later decide to get into a process of recovery and do well,” said John Horsley, the vice president of adult services at Oaklawn. Horsley also said everyone should have Narcan as part of their standard emergency supplies, like a first aid kit or fire extinguisher.
 Please visit the Indiana Drug Overdose Dashboard, where you will find data from 2017 up to provisional data for 2021. In this dashboard, you will find data regarding opioid prescriptions, hospital discharges, and drug-related deaths.
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