RAC HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES DEPT.
Rio Arriba County’s naloxbox program showed promising improvement in overdose-related 911 calls and overdose deaths, during the pilot’s first three months.
The Rio Arriba County’s Health and Human Services Department placed 30 naloxboxes, which contain Naloxone rescue kits, in public buildings, community stores, schools, and other county locations in early October 2025. The pilot program was developed after the HHS team analyzed 911 call logs on confirmed overdoses dating back to 2019 to identify overdose hotspots. The team also interviewed community members with lived experiences to identify often neglected barriers to naloxone and gather their perspectives on addressing overdose and overdose-related deaths.
Based on the 911 call logs, the average number of overdoses in Rio Arriba County from January to September 2025 was 28 per month. During the first three months of the naloxbox program, the rate decreased to 16 overdoses per month. This represents a 40.9% decrease in overdose calls. Further, the rate of overdose deaths also decreased by 45%, based on data analyzed from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator during the same timeframe.
“We strongly believe that increasing access to naloxone in our community is empowering our community to effectively respond to overdoses, thus access to naloxone increases our people’s ability to resuscitate others during an overdose” says HHS Director Ahmed Dadzie.
The results suggest that the more naloxboxes we provide in high overdose hotspots, the fewer 911 calls there are to emergency services. The reduction in 911 calls helps free up time and space for law enforcement to attend to other matters of importance and also directly ties into freeing up space for emergency rooms to attend to other medical matters of importance.
“To me, this is a win-win situation for people struggling with substance use and those who may not have a substance use problem, but may be seeking access into the emergency room for other health related matters. I think this success for Rio Arriba County is something worth celebrating,” says Dadzie.
This early success is thanks to collaboration between the Health and Human Services Department, the County Manager’s Office, the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office, the Española 911 Call Center, and the amazing people of Rio Arriba County.
About Rio Arriba Health and Human Services Department
Rio Arriba County Health and Human Services is the first county-run health and human services department in the state of New Mexico. The department was established in 1997 in response to the growing opioid epidemic in the county. Over the years, the department has evolved to not only address opioid-related challenges, but also social determinants of health. Through research initiatives and Community Health Assessments, the department continuously works to identify and address community health needs.