TEMPO Donates Naloxone Rescue Kits to Over 60 Nashville Music Venues

One such example of this kind of collaboration occurred Thursday in downtown Nashville. It was an honor to join fellow board members of the TEMPO inititative (Training and Empowering Musicians to Prevent Overdose) to unveil the organization’s newest campaign.

TEMPO is a program created and administered by the philanthropic arm of Gibson Guitars. It is a collaboration of over a dozen nonprofits – including HarborPath – working to raise awareness around opioid overdoses and of Naloxone’s ability to counteract overdoses and save lives.

As part of this initiative, TEMPO held a press event at the Gibson Garage Stage, announcing that 62 of Nashville’s live music venues are eligible to receive free Naloxone rescue kits.

Each of the identified music venues can request a free ONEBox – a self-contained Naloxone box equipped with two doses of Kloxxado™ (8mg dose of Naloxone), a CPR Kit (mask, gloves, sanitizer) and a drop-down LCD screen that plays an emergency video explaining what to do if you encounter someone experiencing an overdose. This ONEBox removes the fear barrier that may cause hesitation in keeping Naloxone on hand for emergencies.

The Tennessee CDC Foundation connected TEMPO with the Metro Health Department and the Metro Police Department, asking if the organization could help with a donation of Naloxone to areas identified as high overdose areas on their ‘heat’ map(s). Those areas all centered around Nashville’s Lower Broadway, 2nd Avenue, and Printer’s Alley.

I had the opportunity to attend the event as a TEMPO board member and advocate for Naloxone access and affordability. The sentiment of our fellow nonprofits and law enforcement leaders at the event echoed what we’ve seen with other organizations HarborPath has partnered with on a national level – accessible Naloxone is critical to saving lives from drug overdoses and illicit fentanyl.

With such a high concentration of concerts and music events in Nashville, it is critical that these venues hosting musicians and crowds of concertgoers have Naloxone on-hand in case of an overdose occurring in the building.

I’m grateful for the collaboration it took to make this initiative possible. I’m hopeful that this partnership between nonprofits, major corporations and local governments can serve as a model for making Naloxone available on-hand in areas with a high risk of an overdose.

To read the press release, click here.