Chesco gets grant for heroin antidote

First responders in Chester County have received a grant from a health-insurance company to purchase naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of heroin and opioid overdoses, the Chester County District Attorney's Office announced Friday.

Cigna donated $50,000 for Naloxone to the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association last year to distribute among local agencies. Philadelphia and Delaware County have received Cigna grants, and first responders in Chester County have restocked their supplies thanks to their share -- $7,500.

Cigna is one of several health insurers to give money to the state association for naloxone.

Gov. Wolf has called fighting the opioid and heroin epidemic a top priority. He has included $34 million in his proposed budget with that aim.

So far, all but one of Chester County's 47 law enforcement agencies have agreed to carry Naloxone, including municipal departments and the Pennsylvania State Police. East Whiteland Township is the only municipality not currently covered.

First responders have reversed 58 overdoses in Chester County with the medication, the DA's office said.

Pam Moules, who runs the Steps 4 Hope Foundation, whose mission is to raise awareness about substance abuse, welcomed word of the grant. Her son, Jonathan, was one of 82 people in Chester County and nearly 2,500 across the state who died from drug overdoses in 2014.

"Increased access to naloxone is saving lives, giving families and those suffering with the disease of addiction hope that they will have a second chance to get the help they need for recovery," she said in a statement.

Anthony Giaimo, superintendent of the Tredyffrin Township Police Department and president of the Chester County Police Chiefs Association, called the Naloxone initiative "indisputably the most monumental lifesaving program of the 2000s," and on a par with the use of defibrillators.

mbond@philly.com

610-313-8207 @MichaelleBond