AUSTIN, Texas — Austin and Travis County leaders are crediting federal funding with saving lives in the fight against fentanyl.
It comes roughly a year after U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Austin) announced a $2 million earmark for that purpose, less than a month after an opioid overdose surge linked to 79 cases and nine deaths.
During a news conference on Tuesday at City Hall, Austin and Travis County elected officials and department heads highlighted what those federal dollars have paid for: training more than 1,000 people how to spot and respond to overdoses, giving out more than 24,000 doses of overdose reversal drug Narcan and funding a media campaign with 56 million impressions…