The Allentown Health Bureau will offer naloxone for a limited time on Thursday, December 13 as part of Stop Overdoses in PA: Get Help Now Week.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf recently launched Stop Overdoses in PA: Get Help Now Week, December 10-14, a statewide initiative to provide the overdose-reversal medication, naloxone, to Pennsylvanians for free and help residents suffering from opioid-use disorder.

As part of Stop Overdoses in PA: Get Help Now Week, the Allentown Health Bureau and Bethlehem Health Bureaus, along with the State Health Centers in Northampton and Lehigh counties, will be handing out naloxone on Thursday, December 13, 2018. This medication reverses the effects of an opioid overdose and gives the patient a chance at recovery. Nurses and medical personnel will dispense naloxone and provide information on how to administer it and get help. In the Lehigh Valley, the event will take place at the following locations:

Allentown Health Bureau 245 N. 6th Street, Allentown (11:00am-5:00pm)
Bethlehem Area Public Library 11 W. Church St., Bethlehem (10:00am-6:00pm)
Northampton Cnty State Health Cntr 1600 Northampton St., Easton (11:00 am-7:00pm)
Lehigh County State Health Center 3730 Lehigh Street (Suite 206), Whitehall

The number of doses is limited, so quantities will be distributed until the supply is gone.

“We cannot get someone into treatment if they are dead,” Governor Wolf said. “Naloxone saves lives and we should all carry it because you never know when you will get the chance to help someone. This year alone, emergency medical services have saved more than 9,000 Pennsylvanians using naloxone and transported 92 percent of them to the hospital for treatment.”

Since Governor Wolf first signed a heroin and opioid disaster declaration in January, 16 state agencies have continuously worked to fight the opioid epidemic and have made significant progress to help individuals and families dealing with this crisis. Some accomplishments include waiving birth certificate fees for individuals seeking treatment, using federal Medicaid funding in treatment facilities to provide more than 12,000 individuals access to medically necessary treatment, and providing career services to people who have been impacted by the opioid epidemic and plan to return to work.

For more information on Pennsylvania’s response to the opioid crisis visit www.pa.gov/opioids.

 

 

Information provided to TVL by:
Mike Moore
Communications Manager
Mayor’s Office
435 Hamilton Street
Allentown, PA 18101
Mike.Moore@allentownpa.gov
http://www.AllentownPA.gov

 

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