contributed photo YSS will install a publicly accessible Noloxone (“Narcan”) distribution box outside their building in early October. Each box would contain 200 Narcan nasal spray boxes. Each box — similar to a coin operated newspaper stand — would be stocked as needed by Steps of Hope Iowa and the Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition out of Des Moines.

A life–saving box will be installed at YSS in Marshalltown soon — a box with doses of Narcan, and available for the public.

YSS Outpatient Addictions Counselor Sherry Hall — who spearheaded the effort — and YSS of Marshall County Director David Hicks said the Narcan distribution box is being installed to help save lives.

“Opioid use and subsequent abuse has been a growing trend,” Hicks said. “Our agency’s core values include innovation and collaboration and this project aligns with that. YSS has expanded our outpatient substance abuse efforts to help the community.”

For Hall, the effort has been a personal mission. Her brother died from an opioid overdose at the age of 60. Opioid addiction, she said, does not discriminate. Not only does it affect the addict, but also their family members and friends.

“Too many individuals are dying due to overdosing and this medication absolutely saves lives,” she said. “It’s free and available for anyone who is at risk of overdosing. It’s available to family and friends of loved ones who know they use, and can have it on hand. I carry one in my purse, in my car and in my offices. You just never know when someone may need it and I want to make sure we are ready.”

Getting accurate numbers of Marshalltown residents who died of an overdose is tricky. When an overdose does occur locally, Hicks said the person is sent to a Des Moines hospital. If they die from the overdose while in Polk County, the data is collected there, not in the county of residence.

“Polk, Black Hawk, and Linn will have higher numbers because of this, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t problems in rural Iowa,” he said.

Installation

After YSS purchased the box, Hicks worked with the city and received approval from Marshalltown Public Works on Tuesday for the installation. Hicks said when it arrives, it will be installed on the nonprofit’s property. More likely, it will be placed in front next to the bike rack, out of view of the security cameras so people can access it confidentiality. The date of the installation is not yet set.

The box was first delivered to Steps of Hope in Des Moines Tuesday. Steps of Hope is a nonprofit which is the originator of the box.

Now, Hall said a lot of planning has to be done with Ann Breeding from Steps of Hope and a representative from Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition to come to Marshalltown to place the box. The coalition is another nonprofit which will supply and restock the doses.

It was exposure to some Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition news that prompted Hall to begin work on bringing a distribution box to Marshalltown.

“I inquired about how YSS can obtain them and that got the ball rolling,” she said. “YSS approved the funding for the dispensers, and David Hicks has worked hard in getting the dispenser approved for placement outside of our YSS building in Marshalltown.”

Hicks is pleased to be the first organization in Marshalltown to offer a Narcan box, and also one of the first 10 in the state to do so. However, Narcan is also available in many drugstores, and is typically carried by law enforcement. While Narcan is available to everyone, Hall wants to make the life–saving medication more accessible.

“Do they reach out and actually obtain it?” she asked. “I’m hoping that having access to these dispensers will make it easier.”

When the box is installed, Hicks said there will be instructions for how to access the doses inside. Hall said it will be similar to a newspaper dispenser.

“The only difference is that you don’t have to put money in it to open the door,” she said. “It’s that easy, just open the door and take a dose of Narcan and close the door. There will be a bar scan on the sides of the dispenser that once scanned will give immediate information on how to administer the Narcan dose.”

Everyone in the community will be able to gain access to the Narcan inside. Hicks said the immediate use of the box is for use on people who are suspected of overdosing.

“We would encourage people to carry one in their car, purse, home, etc.,” he said. “There is no harm if it is administered to someone who isn’t overdosing.”

Hall said overdoses happen so quickly people overdosing do not have the ability to administer the medication themselves.

“I anticipate that family members, co–workers, teachers, anyone and everyone should have a dose or two handy,” she said.

After a dose is given, Hicks said medical attention is critical. A substance abuse assessment and wrap–around services should also follow.

Hall’s ultimate goal is to have a box in every community.

“This is still a newly established concept and only about six dispensers are currently placed in Iowa,” she said. “This affects rural communities as well as larger ones, and so that’s why I think there should be one placed in every community.”

DRUG OVERDOSE DEATH RATES:

Hall supplied statistics from the Centers for Disease Control regarding overdoses. However, she added overdose death counts can be deceptive. Some drug–related deaths are not recorded as overdoses, and others involve multiple types of drugs.

The national overdose death rate is 22 per 100,000 residents;

For youth and young adults aged 15 to 24 years, the average annual overdose death rate is 13 out of every 100,000. The rate in this same age group is 42 percent lower than the national average death rate;

Men are more than twice as likely as women to die from drug overdoses. However, women are dying from drug overdoses at a slightly faster annual rate;

Among 25 to 34-year olds, the male death rate exceeds women’s by 147 percent;

Opioids are the deadliest drug type, and are present in 72 percent of overdose deaths;

Opioids kill more than three times as many people as cocaine;

Overdose deaths rank just below diabetes in terms of highest death count in the country;

From 2018 to 2019, overdose rates fell by 5 percent. It was the first time since 2012.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.