BOONE COUNTY, Ind. – Health officials in Boone County will offer free Narcan training to the public Monday evening, as Indiana’s opioid epidemic reaches new heights.
Deaths from drug overdoses have doubled in the state in just a decade. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, 1,245 Hoosiers died from drug overdoses in 2015. Just a decade before, the number was 665.
That’s why some experts say the public should be trained to use the heroin antidote Narcan.
Boone County’s Health Department is holding the county’s first public training of Narcan.
“This is for all persons that are at the greatest risk of witnessing an overdose and unfortunately that can certainly be any of us,” said Boone County Health Administrator Cindy Murphy. “It may not be a friend of loved one but we could certainly be a passerby in a situation and be able to assist.”
The free event happens Monday at 6 p.m. at the Boone County Office Building on 116 W. Washington St. in Lebanon.
