NOBLESVILLE — A pair of Hamilton County agencies have partnered to make opioid overdose boxes available to Hamilton County businesses.
Hamilton County is the first county in the state to make such boxes available to businesses.
"The public would be surprised to learn just how many overdoses happen in restaurants and hotels," Monica Greer, executive director of the Hamilton County Council on Alcohol and Other Drugs, said. "There's very little time when someone overdoses to save them, so if we can treat them before emergency responders arrive it could literally mean the difference between life and death."
The HCCAD and the Hamilton County Health Department are partnering on the project.
Hamilton County Councilman Steve Schwartz, owner of Schwartz's Bait & Tackle, was the first business owner to sign on to the program.
"I work a lot with the county coroner and have witnessed first-hand the devastation drug overdoses create," Schwartz said. "If this project saves just one life it will be worth the effort."
Each box contains gloves and two doses of NARCAN, a nasal spray used to treat opioid overdoses. The HCCAD is providing the boxes free of charge and will replenish the NARCAN as it is used or expires. The program is funded by a grant from the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction.
Businesses interesting in securing an opioid overdose box must first complete a NARCAN class with the Hamilton County Health Department. The course teaches participants how to recognize an overdose and correctly administer the NARCAN.
"We want to be proactive with our programs instead of reactive," Jim Ginder, health education specialist at the Hamilton County Health Department, said. "If someone needs services perhaps we can reach that person before an overdose happens."
