Safety is a topic often forgotten until strategy strikes. In an effort to bring awareness of safe practices to Scott County, Scott County Cooperative Extension Office partnered with several community agencies to promote various types of safety. The Safety Day event was held on October 20^th and drew over 400 attendees from all walks of life. Those who came to the event received educational materials about various types of safety provided by partnering agencies including local fire departments, police, hospital, and health department. Demonstrations and hands on activities were also provided as part of the program by the SNAP Education Program, local arson investigation team, and air rescue squad.

The goal of Scott County Extension Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) was to address one of the community’s most pressing safety issues, prescription drug safety. According to the 2017 National Survey on Drug Use and Health an estimated 6 million people aged 12 or older misused prescriptions in the past month. According to the National Drug Institute, Kentucky is among the top ten states with the highest opioid-related overdose deaths. Disposing of unused medications is the first step in addressing the opioid epidemic.

In Scott County we are fortunate to have 3 permanent prescription drug disposal locations. However, the hours of business and locations of these drop locations are not always convenient for the citizens of our community. Taking this into consideration, the Scott County Extension FCS Program decided to partner with local groups ASAP (Agency for Substance Abuse Policy) and SCAD (Scott Countians Against Drugs) to provide in-home prescription drug disposal kits.

At the Safety Day Event over 150 kits were distributed along with literature on addiction, opioid abuse, and general prescription drug safety. These kits allow individuals and families to clean out unused medications and dispose of them in a way that deactivates the prescription and keeps it from harming our environment. Many attendees did not realize it was not safe to flush mediations down the drain or simply throw them in the trash. Attendees also received information on the prescription drug disposal drop locations available to them in the county. 

In an effort to measure the impact of the program, we will be tracking the amount of prescriptions brought to local drop locations. Improved awareness of the locations will hopefully increase the utilization. Plans are in place to provide prescription drug disposal information and kits at future community events.