State to begin installing naloxone boxes at highway rest stops

Gov. Mike DeWine this week announced a partnership with the RecoveryOhio initiative, the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio Department of Health’s Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided With Naloxone) to install naloxone kits at rest areas across Ohio (Source: “Narcan, naloxone boxes being installed at highway rest stops,” Dayton Daily News, Sept. 25).

Naloxone kits known as NaloxBoxes will be installed at highway rest stops in order to expand access to medication that can reverse the symptoms of an opioid overdose.

Naloxone, commonly referred to by the name brand Narcan, is medication that rapidly reverses the effects of opioid overdose and is the standard treatment for opioid overdose, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has approved Narcan and another naloxone product, RiVive, for over-the-counter use.

Last year, unintentional drug overdoses in Ohio resulted in 4,915 deaths, according to the Ohio Department of Health. That is nearly four times greater than the 1,275 fatalities caused by motor vehicle crashes over the same period, the state said.