LUCAS COUNTY (WTOL) - They happen every day...overdoses.
In April emergency crews responded to 143; in May 168 and the volume of overdose calls continues to climb month after month.
The Lucas County Drug Response Task force is asking for help to stockpile a drug that can save lives.
Tamme Smith of the DART program, a faction of the Toledo Police Department that helps people addicted to heroin, says the proportion of people addicted to opiates in Lucas County is far greater than the number of kits they have available.
"With around 10,000 residents of Lucas County addicted to opiates, there is not enough Naloxone to go around. The DART team is hoping the generosity of community members will catch on and more will be donated to the unit," she said.
According to Smith, the DART team has just 85 kits.
"Having 85 kits isn't enough - just us in our unit - it's not enough," she said. "Everyone in the community needs to reach out and everyone in the community needs to work together to combat the issue."
The program reached out to local businesses to ask for donations and has received participation from two.
One of those businesses is Walgreens, who donated a total of five kits to the unit.
"It's tremendous," Smith said. "Five kits doesn't seem like much, but they are $1,400 a piece. But, that's a lot and that is five additional lives we are going to save."
Sarah Vandevender of Walgreens says their donation benefits their patients.
"Our patients live in the community, we live in the community and we care about the community. We live in the community so, of course we want to help out - to get Naloxone out to patients' families," she said. "To help out and save lives is our main purpose."
The kits donated by Walgreens will be given to the families of inmates at the Lucas County jail who have an opiate addiction who will be trained on how to administer the drug.
The Lucas County jail will also be educating inmates on Naloxone and drug abuse.
"It's needed," Smith said. "This is going to save lives."
Paramount Health Care is the second company that has taken action.
They are holding fundraisers like "jeans days" among their employees with the proceeds going toward new kits for DART.
