Attacking the opioid epidemic

Lisa Cleveland, Ph.D., RN, assistant professor of nursing, has been awarded grants totaling more than $4 million.

Lisa Cleveland, Ph.D., RN, assistant professor of nursing, has been awarded two grants totaling more than $4 million to educate Bexar County first responders on how to identify and reverse opioid overdose. The grants were from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.

The first was a four-year, $2.2 million contract to purchase naloxone to provide training to first responders—including friends and family of opioid users—to identify and reverse an overdose using the medicine, and teach them where to refer users for further treatment. The second grant was for $1.87 million for the first year of a two-year program to bridge the gap between EMS response and the referral of opioid users into recovery and substance use treatment services, and to purchase naloxone.