ST. LOUIS — In the battle against the opioid crisis, consider Missouri Network's unassuming office, the St. Louis war room.
"This is a battle that has many fronts," said Chad Sabora, the Director of Missouri Network of Opiate Reform and Recovery.
It's a space, not much bigger than a room, but in it, Sabora and his team of five employees and volunteers, organize their plan of attack — equipping as many people as possible with Naloxone.
"We know unequivocally that’s the number one way to save lives," Sabora said.
Naloxone, or as many know it, Narcan, is a drug that can reverse an overdose in a matter of seconds.
Missouri Network distributed hundreds of doses in 2018 and according to new numbers, the strategy is working.
According to a statewide reporting database, since August, there have been 1,550 successful overdose revivals. Of that number, 695 came from the Missouri Network office.
That means, across the Show Me state, nearly 45% came from Missouri Network, alone.
"It’s truly a blessing," Sabora said.
Chad said their strategy is simple: save lives so you can get them eventually into treatment.
"We can’t get people into recovery that are dead, so first, we have to make sure they can survive addiction. Especially with fentanyl right now," he said.
Statistics indicate, that strategy is working too.
"We are putting about 100 people a month directly into treatment for substance abuse disorder," Sabora said.
That means for every two overdose victims that receives Naloxone from MO Network, one is seeking treatment.
Chad said he hopes to spread Naloxone even wider in 2019.
"The true first responder is the person sitting next to the other person that is using. Whether there’s two drug users together, mom and dad upstairs, family members - those are the most important people to get this life saving information to," he said.
Sabora admits, that calculation from the state database does not include numbers calculated from EMS divisions, but believes the database does a good job of characterizing Missouri Network's impact.
He said that also shows, many rural communities don't have access to Naloxone like St. Louis does.
Sabora said any community that hopes to replicate a program like MO Network can reach out to their office.
You can either send them a message at MONETWORK.org or call them at 1-844-REBEL UP.
