AG distributes $127K to help first responders

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – More than $100,000 in grants were handed out Thursday morning as Indiana tries to curb the crisis of deaths from drug overdoses.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller gave out $127,000 to three Indiana non-profit groups who will use the money to distribute Naloxone to first responders.

It’s part of a grant program Zoeller helped create this past October. Naloxone is a fast acting antidote to overdoses of opioids or heroin.

“The death toll from drug overdose continues to rise, with opioid pain killers and opioid-based heroin now causing at least a third of all overdose deaths in Indiana,” Zoeller said. “Heroin deaths particularly have doubled in just the past few years. And quite frankly I expect it to get worse this year before it gets better.”

The nonprofits will now distribute Naloxone to first responders in counties identified as high need or high risk.