BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker awarded $500,000 to three community-based health organizations to partner with first responders which provide opioid overdose prevention education and referrals for individuals who were the subject of a 911 overdose call.
“Our administration has spent the last two years focused on working with all stakeholders involved to fight the opioid and heroin epidemic from tearing apart more Massachusetts families,” said Baker in a statement. “The grants announced today will critically support these three community health programs with direct outreach so that people can get into treatment, and hopefully on the road to recovery.”
Health Innovations, which serves Lynn, Peabody, Revere, Swampscott, Marblehead, Salem, Danvers, Chelsea, and Beverly, will receive $159,830 in funding.
Under the program, addiction specialists from these health agencies will join with local first responders, including Emergency Medical Services, fire or police departments to make a home visit shortly after a person overdosed and a 911 call was made.
They will provide information on opioid treatment programs and encourage the person coping with addiction to receive treatment. If they decline, the team will share harm reduction strategies, such as using naloxone and clean needles, and connect family members or others living in the household to supportive community services in addiction education and naloxone training.
“Expanding access to lifesaving medication including naloxone and providing treatment options is a critical part of an effective response to the opioid epidemic, and our goal for this program is to help get people into treatment and start on a journey of recovery,’’ said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders in a statement. “It will also help the family of those with substance use disorders, which is important, because this disease affects those who love them.’’
Opioid-related overdose deaths in Massachusetts declined by 10 percent in the first nine months of this year compared to the first nine months of 2016, according to a report by the Department of Public Health. It is the second consecutive quarterly report estimating a decline in the number of opioid-related overdose deaths.