In 2017, Johnston County established an Opioid Task Force (OTF).

The Johnston County Opioid Task Force (OTF) is a collaborative group led by the Johnston County Public Health Department.  The group has over 200 partners who are dedicated to creating solutions for families and community members impacted by substance use.  This group holds quarterly meetings to discuss updates, success stories and upcoming plans.  In 2019, the health department with support from the OTF, wrote and recieved a grant to train peer support specialists, to train community and professionals on NARCAN administration, and distribute Narcan.  

The Narcan distribution program was housed at the Johnston County Health Department. It was advertised to the public as a walk-in service for free Narcan. Since receiving opioid settelment funds in 2022, our Narcan distribution program has grown in capacity. We offer a larger numbers of doses to community organizations as well as first responders in our county. In 2022, we distributed 600 doses of Narcan to the 40 fire and EMS stations in Johnston County and over 300 doses to the general community. In 2023, we distibuted a total of 3,125 doses of Narcan to a combination of community members and first responders.

OTF serves Johnston County residents.

More Narcan in the community increases the opportunity to reverse more overdoses and thus prevent more deaths from opiates.

The OTF has had many successes to include:

• Training Certified Peer Support Specialists

• Training pharmacists on the importance of providing Narcan to those with opioid prescriptions.

• Distributing Narcan

• Hosting Narcan Trainings to educate the public on how to recognize signs of an opioid overdose, as well as administer Narcan correctly.

• Coordinating a Mental Health Fair