ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) -A proposal to expand life-saving overdose response resources across Dougherty County isn’t winning wide support with commissioners.

The Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office presented commissioners with a proposal to purchase 146 opioid kits and deploy them throughout county buildings and to personnel across Dougherty County. The majority of these kits would go to county police officers and deputies. Each kit contains Narcan along with AED machines.

“And we have Narcan with us, but if they go into cardiac arrest, there’s nothing we can do except perform CPR. With this kit, we’ll be able to perform a response for the opioid overdose and a response for the cardiac arrest with an AED,” said Major Ken Faust with the Dougherty County Sheriff’s Office.

The Sheriff’s Office is requesting that the county use the almost $500,000 the county got in opioid settlement funds to purchase these kits from Cardiac Solutions. The purchase would cost $344,041.

Commissioners raise spending concerns

The proposal stalled when county commissioners raised concerns about how the settlement money should be spent and whether this purchase aligns with a broader strategy for using the funds.

“I’m kind of struggling with this because I’m not against this thing in concept, but we as a board haven’t really had a chance to discuss how we want to spend these opioid funds. They’ve just been sitting there. Ideally, I’d love to see this used towards some type of prevention,” said Russell Gray, District 4 commissioner.

Gloria Gaines, District 5 commissioner, said she has concerns about the number of kits being purchased.

“I do have some concern about the number that we’re purchasing, and we’re not as strategic. It looks like we’re purchasing just a large amount. I’m not convinced of the need for that,” Gaines said.

The proposal was tabled until the board retreat in February, where commissioners will discuss their overall strategy for allocating the opioid settlement funds.

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