The Floyd County Sheriff’s Office has implemented a new initiative to equip their officers with Narcan, also known as Naloxone. This move is aimed at providing the officers with the necessary tools to save lives, as the use of Naloxone by first responders has proven to be a safe and effective means of reversing the effects of an overdose.
In 2022, Floyd County recorded 29 overdose-related deaths. Through collaboration with the Floyd County Health Department and Project Recovery of Southern Indiana, the department was able to secure grant funding to provide this lifesaving tool at no cost.
Sheriff Steve Bush, who has made saving lives and helping people a top priority, sees the Narcan initiative as a critical step in achieving this goal. In addition, the Sheriff is working with various stakeholders, including the county courts and prosecutors, to introduce programs that educate the inmate population about mental health and addiction issues. The department also provides opportunities for inmates to obtain their GED or learn life skills while incarcerated, with the aim of helping them to transition to a better path in life.
Sheriff Bush recognizes that drugs will always be present in society, and his focus is on helping people succeed and lead productive lives. As he put it to the News and Tribune, “We are not going to, probably ever, battle our way out of drugs, it’s always going to be around. So what we can do as a society, as a governmental agency, the sheriff’s office, LifeSpring, everybody else, what we can do is help people to give them the opportunity to succeed and be fruitful in life.”
See the News and Tribune article: NEWS&TRIBUNE ARTICLE
