The Rural Communities Opioid Response Program grant (RCORP) includes fifteen rural counties in southwest Alabama. RCORP has been deemed the Southwest Alabama Opioid Response(SAOR) Project, a multi-year initiative supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Federal Office of Rural Health Policy.
OUR GOAL
To reduce the morbidity and mortality of substance use disorder (SUD), specifically opioid use disorder (OUD) in high risk rural communities through community education, capacity building, and multi-sector collaborations.
To facilitate at least 15 community-based trainings for community members to increase awareness of opioid and substance misuse, prevention, treatment, recovery, available resources and take-back programs within the community with a goal of educating a minimum of 500 community members by August 2025
We service Coffee and Henry county as well as Greene and Perry county through collaborative works.
Narcan saves lives
Naloxone, for example Narcan®, is a medicine that can help people who are overdosing on an opioid. Opioids include prescription medications, heroin, and fentanyl. Sometimes other drugs, including cocaine and methamphetamine, are mixed, or laced with fentanyl.
Naloxone temporarily reverses the effects of an overdose from opioids, including:
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Heroin
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Morphine
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Oxycodone (OxyContin®)
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Methadone
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Fentanyl
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Hydrocodone (Vicodin®)
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Codeine
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Hydromorphone
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Buprenorphine
Signs of an overdose
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Small, constricted “pinpoint pupils”
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Falling asleep or loss of consciousness
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Limp body
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Slow, shallow breathing
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Choking or gurgling sounds
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Cold and/or clammy skin
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Discolored skin (especially in lips and nails)
What to do when helping someone who is overdosing
If you think that someone is overdosing on an opioid or another substance:
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Call 911 immediately.*
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Give naloxone as quickly as possible, if available. Do not wait for emergency workers to arrive before giving naloxone.
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Try to keep the person awake and breathing.
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Lay the person on their side to prevent choking.
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Stay with the person until emergency workers arrive.
Naloxone is a temporary treatment. More than one dose might be needed under some circumstances, especially if an overdose event involves illicitly manufactured fentanyls (IMFs)
Side effects of Narcan
Naloxone can (but does not always) cause withdrawal symptoms, unpleasant physical reactions, when an individual stops using a substance that they depend on. Withdrawal symptoms may be uncomfortable but are not life-threatening.1 Withdrawal symptoms may include:
• Fever
• Nausea
• Feeling restless or irritable
• Fast heart rate
• Sweating
• Vomiting
• Shaking