SIDNEY — The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office in conjunction with the Shelby County Health Department will begin having “Dawn Kits” Narcan in their cruisers for first responders. These kits are being provided through a grant with the Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services.
“Narcan is used when a person is overdosing and is suspected of using heroin (opioid) based drug,” said Sheriff John Lenhart in a press release. “We would like for families to understand the importance of getting their loved ones help and also understand that you can also obtain Narcan to have on hand in case of an overdose. We would like for citizens to understand that we may be miles away at the time of a call involving an overdose and the first line of defense may be a family member who could administer Narcan.
“We are also concerned for the safety of our deputies when dealing with a suspected heroin user, because intravenous users are at a higher risk of having hepatitis and HIV and we therefore believe having Narcan can help our Deputies from being exposed to these dangerous dieses and at the same time provide some type of lifesaving measure until a squad can arrive.”
The county, said Lenhart, is battling an epidemic and can use any and all help in combating heroin use.
“We believe that having Narcan may help in the event of an overdose and at the same time give our Deputies the additional tools they may need,” he said.
