Cranberry Township Emergency Medical Service is starting a new countywide program to reach out to drug addicts and get them the help they need.

The overdose response team will visit drug users in an effort to get them into rehab or guide them in other ways that can help them stay safe — and alive — until they are ready to seek treatment, said Ted Fessides, deputy chief of administration of Cranberry EMS.

“Police aren't going to arrest our way out of the problem and EMS isn't going to Narcan our way out of it,” Fessides said. “It takes multiple agencies working together. ... We already know today what we're doing isn't working, so everyone needs to look at new strategies to combat this problem.”

Cranberry EMS is working with the county's drug and alcohol program, the sheriff's department and local rehabilitation facilities to get the overdose response team program up and running.