MORGANTOWN, W.Va. The Monongalia County Health Department reports an increase in naloxone distribution during the fifth Save a Life Day. Naloxone is the overdose-reversing drug credited with keeping people suffering from addiction alive until they seek treatment.
During the event Thursday in Monongalia County, 5,100 fentanyl test strips and more than 1,800 boxes of naloxone were distributed, compared to 1,046 last September.
During the first Save a Life Day held in September 2021, about 800 boxes of naloxone were given away.
Members of the Monongalia County Health Department Quick Response Team began addressing overdoses in the area in 2019 and are encouraged by the increase in popularity on Save a Life Day.
“Naloxone works by kicking the opioid receptors off the brain,” notes Joe Klass, a Monongalia County QRT member and also the chief of operations for the MCHD Threat Preparedness program, in a video we created to educate the public about naloxone. It can be viewed on YouTube by searching “Monongalia County Health Department Naloxone.”
Naloxone is administered easily as a nasal spray and doesn’t harm the individual even if an opioid overdose doesn’t occur.