A team from RWJBarnabas Health is working to assemble a massive collection of what could be lifesavers: 15,000 naloxone and harm reduction kits.
The initiative by the center’s Institute for Prevention and Recovery is aimed to offer recovery support services to individuals with substance use disorders across hospitals, outpatient facilities and community settings throughout New Jersey.
Gina Bucci, director of recovery support services at for the institute, said they see overdoses in their emergency rooms every day.
“We initially started providing from the recovery specialist just for naloxone overdose patients, so in the few hundreds,” she said. “But during this process we realized just having naloxone wasn’t enough. They needed to hold it; they needed some extra care items, and then we came up with care kits along with the naloxone.”
The Institute for Prevention and Recovery leads one of the nation’s largest in-hospital peer recovery programs. The initiative builds on statewide efforts to increase access to naloxone. Paris Branda, assistant director of recovery support services, said the goal is to get kits to as many people as possible aiming to bridge the gap to recovery.
“Harm reduction is the path right now,” Branda said. “It’s client-centered. Who are we to tell someone stop using? But if you’re going to stop using, do it in a safe manner.”
Patrick Conley, manager of the peer recovery program, said harm reduction efforts — such as expanding access to naloxone — have played a key role in reducing drug-related deaths in New Jersey and across the country.
“It’s probably one of the easiest lifesaving things that exist to be able to help somebody right where they are and bring them back to a place where they can have the proper medical attention provided to them,” Conely said. “It gives them that little bit of space to still be with us.”
