New WVU Program Targets Overdose Death Reduction

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A West Virginia University research department administrator has high hopes for a new program that will distribute thousands of “take-home” drug overdose reversal kits.

Last week, the program officially launched by distributing 8,000 naloxone kits for non-EMS first responders and citizens across the state. Naloxone can reverse the effects of an overdose–and is often life-saving.

“This funding was identified as funding that could be used for this one-time, large-scale naloxone distribution to address, really, the largest public-health issue in the state right now, which is the opioid and opioid overdose epidemic,” Dr. Herb Linn, Deputy Director of the WVU Injury Control Research Center, said Thursday morning on “The Gary Bowden Show” on the AJR News Network.

The earliest iteration of this program in West Virginia is found in Shepherdstown, but Dr. Linn said there was interest in finding a way to get the overdose-reversal drug in the hands of more people.

“The distribution program began when the state identified some funding,” he said. “They wanted to do a community-level, clear-across-the-state distribution program to help make naloxone more available to other than EMS.”

The program identifies police officers and firefighters key groups for distribution. But Dr. Linn also said this could be a game-changing resource for everyday citizens who are trying to save the life of a family member struggling with opioid abuse.

“Often, [families] struggled about how to react to that and how to be prepared in the event of overdose,” Dr. Linn said.

Dr. Linn said the chief goal is to save more lives. According to the most recent available CDC data, West Virginia led all 50 states in opioid overdose mortality rates in 2015.

“We’re going to be looking at any changes in the opioid and opiate overdose mortality,” he said. “We’re hoping to see a really significant downturn in the numbers of overdoses across the state.”

The program was crafted with input from first responders in Huntington and Charleston, where similar programs exist on a smaller scale. After some early successes in the pilot programs that exist in the state’s Eastern Panhandle, Dr. Linn said there is mounting interest elsewhere.

“Already we’re talking to several health departments, several law enforcement agencies, and fire service agencies that previously did not have naloxone distribution, but are interested in starting them up,” he said.

Earlier this week, additional distributions of naloxone were sent north to Wheeling.