Naloxone program expanded in county
A program sponsored by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency will provide 400 naloxone kits to the county, Tom Holman, deputy court administrator, told the county commissioners at their Wednesday meeting.
Naloxone, an opioid overdose antidote, is more commonly known as Narcan.
The kits are to be distributed to eligible first responders like librarians, after-school program leaders, public transit drivers and others in the public sector who may witness an overdose.
The naloxone kits each contain two nasal doses of the drug, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
As a requirement of the PCCD grant that provides the naloxone kits, Holman asked the commissioners to appoint Mark Peffer, the chief deputy at the county sheriff's office, as the coordinator of the program.
Holman said Peffer already coordinates the county program to distribute naloxone to official first responders.
Commissioner Kevin Boozel said naloxone kits normally cost $75 each, which means the cost to the county without the grant would be $30,000.
A full report appears in Thursday's Butler Eagle.