Nearly $50,000 in grant funds from the Department of Health were approved by the Allegany County Board of Commissioners to help county EMS pay for naloxone.

The Cumberland Times-News reports:

“That money would otherwise have to come from either volunteer organizations or out of the city coffers, said Dick DeVore, director of the Allegany County Department of Emergency Services, “so now since we are able to cover that cost, this frees revenue up to look at other things.”

Funding naloxone for EMS was a priority of the local policy subcommittee of the county’s opioid intervention team. The costs for naloxone are just one of the issues the county plans to address through grant funding opportunities.

Commissioner Bill Valentine, who sits on the local opioid intervention team, said the next county funding request will be ambulance transport costs.

“(Opioid epidemic) has caused a huge financial burden on our ambulance system,” Valentine said. “The insurance companies aren’t paying for the ambulance service for the drug users.”

Read The Cumberland Times-News to learn more.