How Rhode Island Is Using NaloxBox to Treat Overdoses Like Heart Attacks

Wedged between shelves of hardback thrillers and DVDs, a whitesquare box adorned with a red cross blends into the scene at the Adams Public Library, belying the potency of its contents.

Inside are four doses of a nasal spray that reverses the effects of opioid overdoses. It is one of the first boxes to be installed—a new tool to attack the growing opioid epidemic. But its creators hope the boxed supply of naloxone, called NaloxBox, will soon be as ubiquitous as defibrillators or even fire extinguishers, so that people overdosing on opioids in public spaces will be treated as if they were suffering from any other public health emergency.