Cleveland and Cuyahoga County health officials last year launched an effort to make free naloxone — a medication used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose — more widely available.
The effort began with the installment of five public vending machines filled with naloxone at medical clinics across Cleveland. Health officials said at the time that making the naloxone publicly available any time of day was an innovative way to decrease drug deaths in Northeast Ohio.
Last spring, the MetroHealth Office of Opioid Safety, one of the groups involved in this effort, expanded the push by installing clear, plastic boxes filled with naloxone and other supplies at several properties operated by the Cuyahoga County Metropolitan Housing Authority (CMHA).
To date, 200 emergency boxes have been installed at CMHA properties.
Stephanie Shorts, who leads MetroHealth’s overdose prevention program, Project DAWN, said the naloxone boxes have been opened more than 126 times, where people have used them to reverse overdoses in the last year. Of those, she said, there have been at least five successful overdose reversals, although the numbers reported may not give the full picture of the effort’s effectiveness.
“There may have been more [overdose reversals], but people may have been afraid to report to the building manager for fear of getting in trouble,” Shorts said.
Shorts said Project DAWN continues to work with community groups to provide overdose response training to CMHA residents and to install more boxes. The program recently began distributing naloxone and fentanyl testing strips at the MetroHealth Buckeye Health Center on Cleveland’s East Side.
In addition, Project DAWN, which operates a mobile clinic across the street from MetroHealth’s main campus, offers xylazine testing strips to test for the presence of the synthetic drug and wound kits to treat severe open sores caused by needle use. The mobile clinic has long provided free naloxone kits and clean needle exchanges.
Shorts said Project DAWN sees more evidence of xylazine in Cleveland’s drug supply. She also said the team is seeing more people seek recovery options.
“Xylazine is causing terrible wounds and is very difficult to treat,” Shorts said. “People we have known for years are struggling, tired and are now ready to get treatment.”
Recovery from addiction is possible. For help, please call the free and confidential treatment referral hotline (1-800-662-HELP) or visit findtreatment.gov.