The Delaware Division of Public Health held a Narcan distribution event on Thursday as part of a partnership with Bancroft Construction at the University of Delaware FinTech job site.

The partnership aims to drive down drug overdoses in Delaware and allows DPH to provide construction supervisors with training about overdoses and the stigma associated with addiction, This is the first time DPH was able to get Narcan directly into the hands of workers at risk of overdose or may find themselves in a position to save another life from overdose.

“This was a small step in the right direction to help combat drug overdose deaths,” said Kate Brookins, director of the DPH Office of Health Crisis Response. “The overdose epidemic is a nationwide public health emergency that impacts all of our communities in Delaware, but the construction industry is particularly hard-hit.”

The Office of Health Crisis Response at DPH has partnered with several construction companies to offer training and education on addition and overdoses. The office is also working on developing a toolkit on awareness and prevention geared toward individuals in the construction industry.

The DPH Drug Overdose Mortality Surveillance Report released in August 2019 showed 23% of overdose deaths in 2017 were construction industry workers. Construction is also the top occupational industries of jobs held by males who died of a drug overdose at 36 percent.

In 2020, a total of 447 drug overdose deaths were recorded in Delaware, according to the Delaware Division of Forensic Science. As of 2019, Delaware had the nation’s second-highest rate of drug overdose deaths, with 48 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Narcan is the brand name of naloxone, a medication that can reverse the effects of opioids in an overdose situation. It is available at most pharmacies through a standing order with no prescription from an individual’s doctor required. More information is available at www.HelpIsHereDe.com.