Ivy Tech group inviting the community to help save lives and help test the award-winning app today

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- A year and a half ago, students won a hackathon for an app idea competing against students from around the world with the intention to save lives.

And, today that idea is coming to life!

The CDC says about 136 people die every day from an opioid overdose.

But, overdose deaths nearly doubled during the pandemic reaching the highest it has ever been recorded in a 12-month period with 81 thousand deaths in the U.S.

But, the push of a button from this launching app is bringing the fight one step closer to beating the opioid epidemic.

“I am amazed,  I have three students that just are continuing to work with us for free, just volunteering because they were committed and believe in this cause and I feel truly blessed to have them on my team,” said Joanne Cogdell, CEO of Naxos Neighbors.

A group of current and former ivy tech students, faculty and staff are saving lives through a new company launch called Naxos Neighbors LLC.

They have created an app called Naxos OD that is expected to be released in July.

The goal to save people from overdosing on opioids.

“I myself have overdosed and have been left by the people who were with me and I was luckily found and saved. And, I had a friend who died from the same thing, somebody left and didn’t call and she didn’t make it so it’s close to me in that way and I know it’s a necessity that we figure out how to do this and use technology we have today to be able to make sure this doesn’t happen,” said Kirk Hoey, an Ivy Tech student and founder of Naxos OD.

Hoey says that many people who are overdosing from opioids during an emergency become afraid when calling law enforcement.

This is contributing to the cause when a fast rescue response can be just minutes away.

So, he decided to create an anonymous feature on the emergency app when calling for help.

All it takes is one press of a button to get immediate help from a community member.

The app searches for nearby trained responders carrying naloxone and directs them to the location where the person is in danger.

The responder can then notify 911 without having to reveal their name to law enforcement.

And, you get to choose when you want to be notified if somebody nearby needs help.

The responders of the app are trained and carry naloxone to people in cases in emergency.

Naloxone can make the difference between life and death reversing the effects of opioid overdose quickly instead of waiting for first responders to arrive.

But, they are asking for community support from volunteers to become trained responders.

Anyone from the community is welcomed to sign up to become a trained volunteer responder to help save lives.

“We really need the community support to make this happen and that the crisis is not over. More people have lost their lives in 2020 to opioid overdose deaths than ever before in our country so the crisis is real and it’s not going away and we need your help to save lives and we hope that you will come out and join us,” Cogdell said.

They are hosting a testing event today and are welcoming the community to attend at the Veterans Memorial Park from 1-5 p.m.

They will be practicing scenarios, testing the app and informing the community about the importance of the app.