Chief Nursing Officer Tracy Keenon of the Rock Island County Health Department says training for Narcan administration is quick and easy. According to Keenon, training takes about five minutes.
She was attending a webinar about fetal infant mortality rates in Cook County and became aware of the Drug Overdose Prevention Program (DOPP). The program is run by the Illinois Department of Human Services as legislated in the Substance Use Disorder Act, which allows organizations to order free Narcan (a form of naloxone) through their Access Narcan program to distribute within their communities.
"Since we signed up in February, we were able to begin ordering Narcan at the end of April, and since the end of April beginning of May to current, we have handed out 59 kits and trained 38 individuals," Keenon said.
She says businesses and organizations can sign up for training and then receive free kits containing a small card detailing the process of administering Narcan.
"Once you're trained as a DOPP participant...essentially, that person is trained to show someone else how to use Narcan and give out kits," Keenon said in a phone interview with WVIK.
Keenon is currently talking to Bally's Quad Cities Casino about training. She worked with the Moline school district, which is now certified, while the Rock Island School District is currently undergoing training.
"We're making sure anybody who wants a kit can come in and ask for one. We're not going to ask any questions about why or who. Anonymity is key to the whole thing; we want people to be comfortable," Keenon said.
The only question is, do you know how to use it? If not, the staff will show the individual before leaving with the kits.
"Typically, when a Rock Island resident comes in, they're looking for a kit for themselves," Keenon said.
Keenon says they have over 70 kits in anticipation of upcoming community events.
"We're handing these out at the Rock Island County Fair," Keenon said. The fair is from July 16th until the 20th. They handed out kits at the Quad Cities Pride Fest earlier this month.
Keenon says the kits are free because the county has signed up to participate in the Drug Overdose Prevention Program.
"The objective is to saturate the community as much as possible so we can save as many lives as possible," Keenon said.
She wants to clarify that Narcan has no side effects, so if someone were to administer the medication to someone not experiencing an overdose, nothing would happen to the individual.
"There won't be any ramifications for them using this medication on somebody they thought was in the process of an overdose. It won't cause any ill effects. The only effect that will occur would be if the person receiving Narcan were experiencing an overdose. The side effects would be them coming out of the overdose, and [they] might feel groggy and shaky."
Keenon says the next challenge for the program is offering a 24/7 dispensary of the medication. She is in contact with different fire and sheriff departments, so an off-site source is available when the health department is closed.
"I'm very proud of this and hope we can continue our network of people," Keenon said. Anyone interested in receiving kits or training can email Tracy Keenon (tkeenon@rockislandcountyil.gov) or stop by the Rock Island County Health Department, located at 2112 25th Ave, Rock Island, IL.
