CareSource helps support National Save a Life Day

DAYTON, Ohio (CareSource) - CareSource recently joined the national Save a Life Day initiative by providing free naloxone pickup boxes at 50 of the more than 650 events held across 35 states nationwide.

Save a Life Day started as a two-county pilot in West Virginia in 2020 and has grown bigger every year. More than 45,000 bottles of naloxone were given away at events across the country this year. CareSource employees have participated in Save a Life Day for the last few years.

Naloxone is a life-saving drug used for opioid overdose and is now available as an easy-to-use nasal spray, available without a prescription. Event organizers say the goal is to place naloxone in settings where it can be accessed without barriers 365 days a year.

“Beating addiction includes navigating overdose in addition to getting help and starting recovery,” said Shannon Steele, RPh, MSc and Pharmacy Community Program Manager at CareSource. “The addiction epidemic continues to take too many lives and anything we can do to help replace loss with hope is not only good for our members, but also for the communities where we live and work. We hope this is an example that inspires other organizations to join the effort.”

“Save a Life Day is about putting more of the spotlight on naloxone outreach programs and harm reduction efforts that, at the end of the day, will help us zero out this crisis,” said Joe Solomon, an event organizer for national Save a Life Day.

In Eaton, Ohio, this year, CareSource employees worked with the Preble County Mental Health and Recovery Board (PCMHRB) and two pharmacy residents, Huanyun Duan and David Do, to distribute naloxone boxes during the day (photo below).

In Indiana, CareSource employees partnered with Eli Lilly employees to pack thousands of overdoes reversal kits that included fentanyl test strips to be distributed by local agencies.

Increased access to naloxone has helped decrease opioid overdoses across the nation. Events that took place on “Save a Life Day” have been recognized in new data from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which recently reported a 10% drop in fatal overdoses in the United States since the start of 2023.