FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO) – The Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health was awarded a grant from the Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH), allowing the department to distribute naloxone kits to community agencies.

The kits contain naloxone hydrochloride, which helps prevent fatal opioid overdoses. The medication reverses the life-threatening respiratory failure that usually causes opioid deaths.

The Fort Wayne-Allen County Department of Health will train and distribute the kits to the Fort Wayne Police Department, New Haven Police Department, New Haven EMS, Allen County Adult Probation, Allen County Public Library and the Allen County Syringe Services Program.

ISDH data shows in 2016, 1,271 Hoosiers died of drug poisoning, and nearly 8,300 people visited Indiana emergency rooms due to nonfatal opioid overdoses.

In Allen County alone, 68 people died of drug overdose in 2016.