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2030 North Arlington Avenue • Duluth, Minnesota 55811 • www.duluthmn.gov
Public Information Officer, Mattie Hjelseth at (218) 730-5434 or mhjelseth@duluthmn.gov
SUBJECT: Press Confernce: Duluth Police Combats Opioid Overdoses with Generous Donation
BY: Lt. Mike Ceynowa
NATURE OF INCIDENT: Press Conference
CASE NO.: Tuesday May 29, 2018
INCIDENT DATE:
INCIDENT TIME: 1100 AM
INCIDENT LOCATION: Public Safety Buidling
MEDIA ADVISORY
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Sean O’Donnell
Communications and Community Relations
(612)-584-0677
sean.odonnell@steverummlerhopenetwork.org
Duluth Police Department Combats Opioid Overdoses with Generous Donation
WHO: Lexi Reed Holtum, Executive Director of the Steve Rummler Hope Network and Lt. Jeff Kazel of the Duluth Police Department
WHAT: Duluth Police Department is announcing a partnership with the Steve Rummler Hope Network to prevent opioid overdose deaths and the generous donation of 600 Narcan nasal devices, the opioid overdose antidote.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 29 at 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Public Safety Building, 2030 N. Arlington Avenue, Duluth, Minn. 55811
WHY: Opioid overdoses continue to rise in Minnesota. In 2016, 395 peopled died of an opioid overdose, an 18 percent increase from 2015. In the past six years, Duluth has seen 323 opioid overdoses and 44 deaths attributed to opioids. Since the police department began carrying Narcan two years ago, 56 people have had their lives saved from an opioid overdose. The Steve Rummler Hope Network is a grantee of the DHS State Targeted Response to the opioid crisis and has purchased several hundred nasal Narcan units for the Duluth Police Department with some of the funds.
VISUALS: Images and video of the Narcan devices will be available during a brief demonstration of the product. Additional b-roll of the device can be found on the manufacturer’s website. Supporting visuals of state overdose data may be found on the MDH opioid dashboard. Logos are available upon request.
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About Steve Rummler HOPE Network
Judy and Bill Rummler founded the Steve Rummler HOPE Network in honor of their son Steve, who died of an opioid overdose in July 2011. The mission of the Steve Rummler HOPE Network is to heighten awareness of the disease of addiction as it relates to the physical and emotional burdens of chronic pain and to improve the associated care process. The Network creates solutions to this epidemic through its three programs: prescriber education, advocacy, and overdose prevention through naloxone distribution.
About the Opioid Crisis
