Naloxone Boxes Installed in Greenfield

GREENFIELD – Four naloxone boxes – located at Energy Park, Hillside Park and the two Greenfield City Hall public restrooms – were recently installed across the city. Naloxone boxes are public access locations that hold free, readily available intranasal (sprayed through the nose) naloxone. Naloxone is an emergency medication with the ability to reverse an opioid overdose. The naloxone boxes will be refilled weekly by Tapestry Health
and will make naloxone more accessible, increasing the availability of a first-aid, life-saving medication and reducing stigma for persons with opioid use disorder.

This effort, spearheaded by local agencies, such as the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin, Tapestry Health, The North Quabbin Community Coalition and Boston Medical Center, is part of the National Institutes of Health’s HEALing Communities Study. The study began in 2019 with 16 Massachusetts communities who qualified based on opioid overdose fatality rates.

The new naloxone boxes are part of the $800,000 the task force received to finance opioid-related fatality reduction strategies in Greenfield, Athol, Montague and Orange.

The decision to install naloxone boxes follows an extensive planning process by local agencies in collaboration with Greenfield leadership. Several community outreach meetings helped inform where the naloxone boxes would be installed.

"The city welcomes the opportunity to be a partner with Tapestry and the Opioid Task Force in this effective lifesaving harm reduction effort by allowing Naloxone boxes to be available in our city hall and public parks," said Mayor Roxann Wedegartner.

"Increasing access to free naloxone in our rural area is an important step towards preventing fatal overdoses,”
said Christopher J. Donelan, Franklin County Sheriff and Opioid Task Force Co-Chair. “As a community
partner with the HEALing Communities Study, this has been an important effort to meet our most vulnerable
community members where they are at.”

Naloxone Education

Here are important steps in administering naloxone:

1. If you suspect someone has overdosed, stimulate the person through verbal stimulation (calling out to
them) and physical stimulation (conduct a sternal rub by rubbing knuckles up and down on their chest
with firm pressure).
2. If the person is unresponsive, call 911 and inform the dispatcher of your location and say "someone isn't
breathing" and/or "I think it's an overdose".
3. To administer naloxone, peel the back of the package to remove the device.
4. Place the nostril tip in the person’s nostril, then press the plunger firmly to release the dose.
5. Lay the person on their back and tilt their chin to support breathing.
6. If possible, provide rescue breathing (Give 1 breath every 5 seconds)
7. Administer a second dose if the person is unresponsive after three minutes, changing nostrils each time.
8. Stay with the person until emergency response arrives.

In addition, the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region and Tapestry continues to host virtual overdose prevention and Narcan trainings. The organization’s next training occurs on Thursday, November 30, from 2 to 3 p.m. Those interested in attending can register at https://tinyurl.com/bdecvf5p