By Renatta Signorini
Tribune-Review
HARRISBURG, Pa. — First responders in Pennsylvania will be able to apply for naloxone kits under a new initiative announced Thursday.
More than 60,000 kits of naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of an opioid overdose, will be available for two years with $5 million in state funding, according to a news release.
The kits will include two doses of the nasal spray form of the drug. They are being supplied by Adapt Pharma, officials said.
The requests will be handled by the state Commission on Crime and Delinquency and there will be one point-of-contact for each county or region to identify needs of first responders. Applications are due Nov. 6.
Eligible first responders include law enforcement, firefighters, ambulance services and court, shelter and library staff, according to the commission. Each county is allocated a certain number of kits in the first six-month period -- 88 for Allegheny and 34 for Westmoreland.
Police across Pennsylvania have reversed nearly 4,000 overdoses with naloxone, including 57 in Westmoreland and 221 in Allegheny, according to the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
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