Boone County’s Youth & Family Health Network received a grant for $50,000 to develop, train and coordinate an overdose quick-response team in Boone County. The grant was provided by the Indiana Division of Mental Health and Addiction of the Family and Social Services Administration. The grant is funded under the 2016 21st Century Cures Act.
“IDMHA wanted to set up teams across Indiana to address when someone has overdosed,” said Michelle Standeford, executive director at YFHN. “The team will link the person and their family to services they need afterwards.”
A quick-response team is a group of trained professionals who follow up within 24 to 72 hours with an individual who has overdosed and been treated with an overdose reversal. YFHN is partnering with Integrative Wellness, Boone County Witham EMS and the Boone County Sheriff’s Office to round out the team.
“Individuals who overdose come very close to death,” Standeford said. “We want to follow up with them while the experience is still fresh so we can get them the help and treatment they need.”
The team also will provide Narcan kits for the family and training on how to use it.
YFHN will start contacting those in need of assistance Dec. 1 and will receive notifications of overdoses through the Boone County dispatch at the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
“The Boone County dispatch is the one source that’s pivotal when someone overdoses. When someone dials 911 it goes to the dispatch. EMT’s are engaged depending on the incoming call,” Standeford said. “Every morning our (quick-response team) will be receiving communication of the calls that went out and the ones that are overdose-related, then we will begin scheduling the first engagement with the individual.”
The grant money will fund the team from Dec. 1 to April 30th.
“We have reporting we have to do every month regarding the number of people we’ve seen, what our follow ups were and the outcomes,” Standeford said. “We will be tracking the people in need through the whole process.”
For more, visit yfhnpartners.org.
