Regional Overdose Prevention Specialists (ROPS)

This program, which is provided through a grant at the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, is designed to increase awareness across Tennessee on the dangers of opioids and stimulants, as well as promote the available resources for opioid overdose prevention.

Training is provided to anyone in Tennessee at no charge through Regional Overdose Prevention Specialists (ROPS), who reach all 95 counties. ROPS educate individuals and groups on substance misuse in Tennessee, the brain science of addiction, and how to recognize and respond to an overdose, including how to obtain and use the lifesaving drug naloxone.

This training certifies an individual under the Tennessee Good Samaritan Law and provides naloxone to eligible individuals as designated by the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

To be eligible for a naloxone kit through this program, an individual must be at risk of an opioid overdose. You cannot get naloxone through other resources, such as insurance.

Naloxone cannot be provided to agencies to distribute on behalf of Tennessee Save a Life. If an agency works with an individual whom they identify as potentially eligible for a naloxone kit, they can direct the individual to the Regional Overdose Prevention Specialists (ROPS) for additional information.