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Rep. Ford pushes overdose prevention sites for Chicago
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Medical experts, advocates and community outreach groups support the move.
AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/overdose/)
Medical experts, advocates and community outreach groups support the move.
Medicaid enrollees will need to resubmit eligibility to the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services to maintain coverage.
Loretto Hospital and Maryville Academy offered free Narcan and trainings last week to commemorate International Overdose Awareness Day.
The training will be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Aug. 31 at The Loretto Hospital. Behavioral health clinicians from the hospital and Maryville Academy will show participants how to administer Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an overdose.
State Rep. La Shawn K. Ford has introduced legislation that would allow people to inject illegal drugs under supervision. He hopes lawmakers will vote on the proposal later this year.
Narcan – a medicine that can reverse an overdose – doesn’t work with xylazine, making deadly overdoses more likely, local health officials say. The Cook County medical examiner’s office found 236 xylazie-related deaths over the course of five years, with the numbers increasing each year.
A free information session will be held on Zoom at 6:30 p.m. April 27. A representative from the Chicago Department of Public Health will explain how Narcan can be used to reverse an overdose.
Later this month, patrons at 14 branches across the city will be able to get a free Narcan kit. The Austin locations are at 5615 W. Race Ave., 5724 W. North Ave. and 4856 W. Chicago Ave.
Mark “International Overdose Awareness Day” by joining members of the West Side Heroin/Opioid Task Force at 11 a.m. Aug. 31 at the corner of Pulaski and Jackson, 4000 W. Jackson.
A new state law protects a person who provides emergency medical assistance to someone who’s experiencing an overdose. A Good Samaritan in these cases cannot be arrested, charged or prosecuted for drug violations. State Rep. La Shawn Ford lauds the new law, noting more Good Samaritans are needed to give naloxone, the medication used to reverse an overdose.