Above / DuPage County Health Department also is the home of NAMI DuPage, National Alliance on Mental Health.
DUPAGE COUNTY—The DuPage Narcan Program (DNP) recently experienced a milestone by recording the 500th life saved since Narcan was first administered in 2014.
The life was saved by Officer Lundy on June 23, 2018, in Wheaton.
“Serving and protecting citizens continues to evolve,” said Wheaton Police Chief Bill Murphy. “Narcan has become an important public safety tool.”
The DNP was formed in 2013 in response to the alarming number of DuPage County deaths attributed to heroin overdoses, and Narcan training began later that year. There are now 4,601 individuals trained by the DNP to use Narcan to reverse an overdose.
Health Department Executive Director Karen Ayala said, “Although saving 500 lives is a remarkable accomplishment, we must embrace these opportunities to link individuals to treatment.”
Many lives have been saved, however, many lives continue to be lost.
“The remarkable successes we achieved in a few short years are overshadowed by the number of opioid-related deaths,” said DuPage County Coroner Dr. Richard Jorgensen.
There have been 37 deaths due to opioid overdoses in 2018, the coroner said.
In DuPage County, the recently formed Heroin Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Taskforce, an interagency-interdisciplinary advisory group, is comprehensively assessing opioid use within the County.
The Taskforce advises DuPage County elected leaders on ways to address opioid use in the County.
For more details, visit dupagehealth.org.
DuPage Narcan Program (DNP)
The DNP is a partnership among the DuPage County Police Chief’s Association, DuPage County Coroner Dr. Richard Jorgensen, DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba, DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin, DuPage County Chairman Dan Cronin, and the Health Department, which serves as DNP Project Director and Healthcare Professional.
DuPage report submitted by Christopher Hoff, Assistant Director of Community Health Resources, for the DuPage County Health Department.
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