The opioid overdose reversal drug Narcan (naloxone) is now available at the front desk of the Forsyth County Department of Public Health, a move meant to further increase access to the life-saving drug.
Naloxone is already available at pharmacies across the state due to a standing order implemented in 2016. It allows people access to the drug without needing a prescription.
What the Forsyth County Department of Public Health received is called a distribution order, and allows an organization to hand out naloxone outside of a pharmacy setting. You can now get Narcan, a brand of naloxone that comes as a nasal spray, at the department's front desk.
Amanda Clark with the department of public health says the Narcan kits come with two doses.
“Especially with the rise of fentanyl, or even sometimes fentanyl or other opiates being mixed into non-opioid street drugs, sometimes people might need more than one dose to be revived," she says. "So each kit has two doses in it just in case that first one is not effective, you can also administer the second time.”
Clark says in the two weeks after they began distribution, they had given out over 12 kits. The department also offers an overdose awareness course and naloxone education for community groups and employers.