Clark County Public Health is among 19 local departments nationwide honored Wednesday by the National Association of County and City Health Officials.
The county’s staff received a Model Practice Award for helping prevent opioid overdoses, now the leading cause of accidental death in Washington.
Implemented in April 2014, Clark County Public Health’s overdose prevention program trains staff and volunteers at the Harm Reduction Center in the Maplewood neighborhood to administer and distribute naloxone to persons at risk of experiencing or witnessing an opioid overdose. Naloxone reverses the effects of an overdose. As of June 30, Public Health had educated 583 people, distributed 1,459 naloxone kits, and documented 293 overdose reversals.
“A good measure of community health is the health of its most vulnerable citizens,” Dr. Alan Melnick, Public Health director and health officer, said in a news release.
