From 2014 to 2022, approximately 551,772 naloxone kits have been distributed throughout Ohio through Project DAWN, an Ohio Department of Health program – generating 68,586 known overdose reversals. 

Naloxone, the active ingredient in overdose reversal medications such as Narcan, is at the forefront of battling the opioid epidemic, according to Tamera Hunter, the CEO of Townhall II, which is a drug prevention, treatment and recovery institution in downtown Kent.

Ohioans now have greater access across the state through Project DAWN, and respective locations affiliated with the program, to combat the deadly threats laced drugs and medications pose that officials continue to detect.

While Narcan is used to reverse an overdose, drugs laced with deadly opioids such as fentanyl make it difficult for naloxone to be effective, said Karyn Kravetz, associate director of the Portage County Mental Health and Recovery Board. 

“Fentanyl, right now, is so powerful, and it’s taking on so many different forms,” she said. “A lot of the time, the Narcan isn’t strong enough to overpower the fentanyl, so it’s not a sure thing that if somebody has overdosed, [the Narcan] is strong enough.”

Along with fentanyl, the “new hot drug” is xylazine, said Hunter.

“[People] are mixing xylazine and fentanyl,” she said. “Xylazine gives fentanyl longer legs, gives you that high longer, so we’re seeing people that are overdosing on fentanyl and xylazine are not responding to Narcan.”

Outside of medical professionals, first responders and dispatchers also need to be equipped and educated on the administration of naloxone while also being aware of what a drug can be laced with, Kravetz said.

“We also had our dispatchers trained too,” Kravetz said. “We were training community members and when a community member has a Narcan kit and their loved one or friend is overdosing, the first thing we always tell someone is to call 911.”

Out in the field, first responders and dispatchers communicate to one another on the unfolding details of a suspected overdose. First responders prepare themselves and have multiple naloxone kits readily available due to the uncertainty of the situation, such as the strength in drug and dosage taken, said Lieutenant Michael Campbell, Strongsville Police Department’s Quick Response Team leader. 

“The rise of fentanyl has made it where we would just use one dose of Narcan to bring someone back and sometimes [now], I think up to 15 doses of Narcan just to reverse the fentanyl as these drugs are getting stronger, more potent,” he said.

Each overdose case can vary in the effective response time that naloxone can reverse. Generally, an overdose reversal is slim if naloxone is administered after 10 minutes from the time someone overdoses, Hunter said.

As time is limited to reverse an overdose, the availability of naloxone and necessary protective personal equipment can be life saving toward the patient, she said.

In efforts to make naloxone available at a greater scale across the state, Project DAWN, the Ohio Department of Transportation and Governor Mike DeWine partnered to install naloxone kits into rest stops and service plazas.

“I love the fact that [naloxone] is out there for the community, wherever they need to be,” Hunter said. “I know [Townhall II] were getting reports of people overdosing at rest stop parking areas, and I’m a big advocate of getting Narcan out there as much as we can.”

At Townhall II, located at 155 N. Water St. in Kent, naloxone kits are available for free. A form is filled out to track how many kits are distributed for Project DAWN. 

Hunter and Kravetz said they want naloxone to become available in additional locations, such as schools, airports and gas stations. Additionally, Campbell said he would like to see naloxone kits in hotels, which are locations he has personally responded to overdoses. 

“I’ve had to tell way too many people that their loved one is dead because of an overdose,” Campbell said. “This affects everyone, not just a person with the addiction affected – it’s everyone around them that’s affected.”

Anthony Zacharyasz is a general assignment editor. Contact him at [email protected].