Harrisburg, PA – As of 3:00 pm, nearly 4500 kits of naloxone have been distributed as part of Stop Overdoses in PA: Get Help Now Week, a statewide initiative to get the overdose reversal medication naloxone to Pennsylvanians and get help for residents suffering from the disease of opioid-use disorder. Many locations are out of naloxone.
“We were hopeful that we would have this response to the naloxone distribution,” Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said. “We are excited that Pennsylvanians are stepping up to help save lives. If you couldn’t get naloxone today, our state health centers are staying open until 7 p.m. to take your information and make sure we can get naloxone to you. We are going to look to do this type of event again to make naloxone available.”
As part of Stop Overdoses in PA: Get Help Now Week, thousands of residents went to a state health center, county/municipal health department or other location to pick up naloxone for free.
As of 3:00 pm, the following locations, listed by region, are out of naloxone:
Northcentral
- Centre Life Link EMS
- Columbia County State Health Center
- Lycoming County State Health Center
- Montour County State Health Center
- Northumberland County State Health Center
- Snyder County – Selinsgrove Center
- Sullivan – Dushore Fire Department
- Tioga County State Health Center
- Union County State Health Center
Northeast
- Carbon County State Health Center
- Lackawanna County State Health Center
- Lehigh County State Health Center
- Luzerne County State Health Center
- Pike County State Health Center
- Susquehanna County State Health Center
- Wayne County State Health Center
- Wyoming County State Health Center
Northwest
- Clearfield County State Health Center
- Crawford County State Health Center
- Erie County – Blasco Library
- Lawrence County State Health Center
- Venango County State Health Center
- Warren County State Health Center
Southcentral
- Adams County State Health Center
- Cumberland County State Health Center
- Dauphin County State Health Center
- Fulton County State Health Center
- Huntingdon County State Health Center
- Lebanon County State Health Center
- Mifflin County State Health Center
- Perry County State Health Center
- York County State Health Center
Southeast
- Lancaster County State Health Center
- Schuylkill County State Health Center
- Montgomery – all locations
Southwest
- Beaver County State Health Center
- Butler County State Health Center
- Fayette County State Health Center
- Greene County State Health Center
- Indiana County State Health Center
- Somerset County State Health Center
- Westmoreland – both locations
“It is important that people are aware that they can also go to their local pharmacy on any day to get the overdose reversal medication naloxone,” Dr. Levine said. “This medication reverses the effects of an opioid overdose and gives the patient a chance at recovery.”
“We cannot get someone into treatment if they are dead,” Governor Wolf said. “Naloxone saves lives and we should all carry it because you never know when you will get the chance to help someone. This year alone, emergency medical services have saved more than 9,000 Pennsylvanians using naloxone and transported 92 percent of them to the hospital for treatment.”
Since Governor Wolf first signed a heroin and opioid disaster declaration in January, 16 state agencies have continuously worked to fight the opioid epidemic and have made significant progress to help individuals and families dealing with this crisis. Some accomplishments include waiving birth certificate fees for individuals seeking treatment, using federal Medicaid funding in treatment facilities to provide more than 12,000 individuals access to medically necessary treatment, and providing career services to people who have been impacted by the opioid epidemic and plan to return to work.
For more information on Pennsylvania’s response to the opioid crisis visit https://www.pa.gov/guides/opioid-epidemic/#StopOverdosesinPAWeek.
MEDIA CONTACT: Nate Wardle, 717-787-1783
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