Tri-City Fire, the Gila County Public Health Department, and the Copper Basin Coalition are partnering for a new initiative that takes an outside of the box approach to raising awareness about opioid abuse in the Globe-Miami area.
Taking full advantage of the visibility of Tri-City vehicles in our community, the three agencies have worked together to create signs for Tri-City’s ambulances, fire trucks, and other vehicles. “Our vehicles are some of the best billboards in town,” says Tri-City’s Bryson Hall.
They hope that having the message of “Working Together for a Drug Free Community,” traveling around the area and the state on Tri-City trucks will help raise awareness about opioid abuse, generate conversation, and break down some of the stigma around addiction. “We’re all focused on the same goals,” says Hall. Gila County Health Department’s Chuck Turney and Hall agree that their respective agencies are united in attacking the problem from all sides.
They’re hopeful too that their unique approach to raising awareness might provide an example for other agencies of a low-cost way to get the word out that they’re united in their commitment to help stop opioid abuse. “This problem does not affect one or two people,” says Hall. “It affects everyone.”
The Gila County Public Health Department will be at Tri-City Fire’s open house on Oct. 14 from 10-2 at the Tri-City station in Claypool. The health department will be presenting information on naloxone (the drug that can reverse an opioid overdose) and will have their naloxone “recovery kits” available.
