Nonprofit volunteers riding Metro Transit with opioid antidote on Super Bowl weekend

The Steve Rummler HOPE Network, a nonprofit, will also be providing naloxone to first responders, volunteers and the public free of charge.

February 1, 2018 at 10:54PM
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)
(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Trained volunteers carrying naloxone - the antidote for opioid overdose - will ride Metro Transit trains and buses on Super Bowl weekend with black hats reading "Got Narcan."

Several nonprofits and community organizations including The Steve Rummler HOPE Network and Valhalla Place will be riding public transit as well as providing naloxone to first responders, volunteers and the public free of charge.

The Rummler HOPE Network relies on a grant from the state of Minnesota and donations to distribute naloxone and educate about opioid addition and overdose.

"With an event of this magnitude and the influx of people into the city of Minneapolis, the Minnesota Department of Human Services expect first responders to be preoccupied, so they've approached community nonprofits to lend a hand to ensure that communities have the resources to reverse an overdose," according to a statement released by the nonprofit.

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 network provides prescriber education, advocacy and overdose prevention through naloxone distribution.

Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in the United States. In 2016, there were 63,600 drug overdose deaths, over 65 percent of these overdoses were attributed to opioids. Last week, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department reported 162 opioid overdose deaths in 2017 in Hennepin County - nearly a 50 percent increase in the past two years.

about the writer

about the writer

Shannon Prather

Reporter

Shannon Prather covers Ramsey County for the Star Tribune. Previously, she covered philanthropy and nonprofits. Prather has two decades of experience reporting for newspapers in Minnesota, California, Idaho, Wisconsin and North Dakota. She has covered a variety of topics including the legal system, law enforcement, education, municipal government and slice-of-life community news.

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