Oak Park plans opioid overdose kits in key locations

Collaborations underway with township, librar y, parks

By STACEY SHERIDAN Staff Reporter

The Village of Oak Park is considering purchasing emergency opioid overdose kits to prevent opioid overdose fatalities in the community. The kits, known as NaloxBoxes, are intended to increase the capacity of bystander rescuers to save lives of people who have overdosed on opioids in Oak Park.

Opioid addiction and overdoses are national crises, and while it may not be as widely apparent, Oak Park is not impervious to the problem. The Oak Park Public Health Department tracks the number of local opioid overdoses, which has increased 95% in the last decade. In 2022, Oak Park saw 151 overdoses – that the health department knows about. When there is an overdose or death related to a stigmatized disorder, such as addiction or substance abuse, people are reluctant to re port it. Those unreported incidents go undocumented by health departments.

See OVERDOSE KITS on page 12