CHARLESTON, W.Va. — West Virginia residents can now be better equipped to save a life.
Vandalia Health CAMC has installed public access Naloxone boxes at CAMC Memorial, CAMC Women and Children’s and CAMC Teays Valley hospitals. Naloxone is a life-saving medication that can reverse opioid overdoses.
The Naloxone boxes look similar to newspaper boxes and residents don’t need a key or a staff member to help.
“People can come in anytime. It’s accessible to anyone anytime. No judgment. No questions asked,” said CAMC director of addition services Ashley Murphy.
Murphy says that Naloxone bridges the gap between the services inside the hospital and those suffering miles away.
“It’s great to have the Naloxone in a visible area. It’s visibly available in our hospitals and the re-enforces that overdose prevention is healthcare. It reduces stigma and extends life-saving support beyond our emergency services and into the community,” she said.
The new boxes were donated through the CAMC Foundation and the supply of Naloxone comes from community partners such as the University of Charleston’s Office of Drug Control Policy.
Last February, the first Naloxone box was installed at CAMC General Hospital in Charleston, and Murphy says that was a beneficial decision.
“The box at General has been very successful. Easily over 1,000 kits have gone out in the past year,” she said.
Murphy added that West Virginia is a state that desperately needs tools to prevent overdose deaths.
“In West Virginia, our rates of overdose deaths have historically been among the highest in the nation. Even though a lot of our recent data is showing encouraging declines, we still have hundreds of West Virginians still losing their lives to overdose each year,” Murphy said. “That’s not just statistics. They ‘re our friends, they’re our co-workers, family members, classmates, neighbors, and so that’s why public access Naloxone boxes matter.”
She says citizens having access to this medication saves precious moments while the clock is ticking.
“In an overdose, minutes matter,” Murphy said. “When we can get Naloxone into the hands of everyday people so they can have it right where it’s needed when it’s needed and when we can empower the bystanders around to act immediately, there’s a much better chance that an individual will be able to survive that opioid-related overdose event.”
The Naloxone boxes are located in the front entrances of CAMC General and CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital. The boxes at CAMC Memorial Hospital and CAMC Teays Valley Hospital are at the entrance of the emergency department.