More than 45,000 naloxone doses distributed during Save A Life Day, organizers say 

During last month’s Save A Life Day, more than 45,000 doses of the opioid overdose antagonist medication naloxone were distributed throughout Appalachia, organizers announced Wednesday.

“We moved so much naloxone and so many people said on the survey ‘I could have done more if we had had more,” coordinator Iris Sidikman said during a call with participating teams Wednesday afternoon. 

“That is just truly wonderful,” Sidikman said. 

They noted that 45,000 is more than the number of people from Appalachian states who died of a drug overdose in 2021, which was about 40,500, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

In West Virginia, teams in all 55 counties distributed 14,719 kits containing 29,438 doses of naloxone on Save a Life Day. Nearly 2,100  kits with 4,200 doses were distributed in Kanawha County. 

This year was the first time the event was held in all 13 Appalachian states. Save A Life Day started in Kanawha and Putnam counties in 2020, as the number of overdoses rose during the COVID-19 pandemic.