Emergency professionals now have a new tool to combat opioid epidemic in DuPage County
VILLA PARK- DuPage County now has a new tool to fight the growing opioid epidemic in Illinois.
State Senator Tom Cullerton (D-Villa Park) is proud to announce a Standing Order has been issued to make the lifesaving drug, Naloxone, more readily available to first responders and community members.
"We can't rest until the opioid crisis is eliminated from our communities," Cullerton said. "Allowing emergency professionals to have quick access to this life saving tool will help us fight this nasty epidemic."
Naloxone is a non-addictive prescription medication that, if used while someone is having a heroin overdose, can save the person's life. It is more commonly referred to as Narcan.
The Naloxone Standing Order allows eligible organizations, mostly pharmacies and opioid overdose education and naloxone distribution (OEND) programs to provide naloxone to any person without a direct prescription. With Illinois' standing order, insurers, such as Medicaid and Medicare, can be billed. Eligible individuals must complete appropriate training on naloxone administration to use the program.
Cullerton believes this Standing Order puts a missing link in place to provide the lifesaving drug to emergency professionals to save DuPage County residents' lives.
"Thirty-eight percent of Illinoisans have never heard of naloxone," said Deborah A.P. Hersman, president and CEO of the National Safety Council. "We are paying for that lack of awareness with lives lost. We applaud Sen. Cullerton and his colleagues for making naloxone available via a statewide standing order. Efforts like these will save lives."
Since 2014, over 3,143 individuals have been trained to administer Narcan among 60 program sites across DuPage County and the northern Illinois area. The DuPage County Narcan Program was the first countywide overdose prevention program approved by the state Division of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse.
145 lives were saved in DuPage County in 2016. However, the increased use of the deadly drug fentanyl with heroin is believed to have led to an increased number of overdose related deaths.
In 2016, Cullerton worked to addresses heroin and opioid abuse and addiction through House Bill 1. The law combats the opioid epidemic in a variety of ways, by training public safety entities in administering Narcan, requiring state agencies to develop a three-year heroin and opioid drug prevention program and expanding state-funded treatment to include addiction treatment and prescription costs.
"Our work to end the opioid overdose epidemic in Illinois and across our nation is far from done," Cullerton said. "We cannot rest until this crisis is eliminated from our communities. Until then our top priority will remain putting protections and precautions in place to save lives."
Cullerton urges DuPage County residents to give his Villa Park Office a call at (630) 903-6662 with any questions regarding where to receive help fighting opioid addiction.
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