- Tallahassee Rotary are holding workshops on how to use a new nasal spray that's designed to save lives faster.
- There were 31 deadly overdoses is Leon County in 2022.
- Watch the video above to see how Tallahassee Rotary are trying to bring deadly numbers down.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT
Fighting a deadly issue in our community…
"We're seeing that hundreds of thousands of people over the last several years have died as a result of fentanyl."
I'm your southwest Tallahassee neighborhood reporter Terry Gilliam.
I'm looking at how drug overdoses impact neighborhoods across the city and beyond ... and how one group is working to fix that.
"One year ago today, a friend of mine overdosed on fentanyl. So, they lost their life and it's a hard thing to talk about but it's the reality of what we're living in."
The scary reality of those overdoses is something that Mariah Kill, member of the rotary club of Tallahassee has seen the impact of firsthand.
"It's hard because you talk to people, you have conversations with them and then the next day they're unconscious and on life support and that's not the thing you want to see for your friends…"
Now, Kill and the Rotary Club of Tallahassee are teaming up with Rotary Action Group Addiction Prevention to treat overdoses. They're doing it through training with Klaxxado… it is a Naloxone variant.
Wednesday, people gathered at Florida state's alumni center to attend a workshop put on by kill and others to learn how to use it during the ‘learn to save a life’ event.
"In a perfect world we wouldn't be using these kinds of drugs because we don't want to see people overdosing, but it is the unfortunate reality of the situation."
In 2021 Kloxxado was approved by the FDA. The drug is expected to reverse overdoses faster than some other drugs.
Graphic: digging into overdose deaths in Florida and Leon County....
According to data provided by the Tallahassee Rotary, in 2022 there were 3,776 deadly overdoses in Florida.
31 of those deaths were in Leon County.
I got to chat with Phillips to see just how much this affects people in our community.
"When a person dies from an OD, it affects everybody in that family. It's like dropping a pebble in the water; the pain just radiates out in waves…"
A pain that Phillips is hoping access to Kloxxado can prevent...
"You see a person virtually near death; you can give them a shot of this Nalaxone and it will bring them right back."
Saving lives by putting resources and knowledge in the hands of people in communities across Leon County.
"If you can do anything at all to combat against that then wouldn't you?"
According to the rotary club less than 5% of people in Leon County are trained to administer the drug… their goal is 20 percent… in Southwest Tallahassee, Terry Gilliam, ABC27.
