Evansville, IN — Vanderburgh county has a suicide rate four times the national average. In 2014 alone there were a total of 52 suicides – an average of one each week!
With the growing popularity of heroin in the area, there is no denying that this city has an opioid problem.
That is why CAJE has worked over 16 months to equip all law enforcement first responders in Posey, Vanderburgh and Warrick counties with the life saving antidote Narcan.
Narcan reverses the effects of an opioid overdose. Warrick and Vanderburgh county sheriff’s departments agreed to begin carrying this tool at the 2014 CAJE Nehemiah Action.
Warrick County Sheriff Bret Kruse told CAJE and the media, “This may be something hopefully we never use but if you have the opportunity to save one person, it’s worth the money and the time spent on it.”
Two months later, a Warrick County Deputy used Narcan and saved the life of a man who purposely overdosed on prescription painkillers.
At the 2015 Nehemiah Action, CAJE pushed for the expanded use of Narcan and asked the Posey County Sheriff’s Department if they would train and equip their deputies as well, they gladly agreed.
After sixteen months of research and action, CAJE was able to sway the Evansville Police Department to begin carrying Narcan in every sector of the city on every shift as a pilot program. CAJE is going to continue to pursue equipping every EPD officer with Narcan.
