Thursday, February 13, 2014

HEROIN : A COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO A COMMUNITY CRISIS


HEROIN:
A COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO A COMMUNITY CRISIS

1st Annual Community Conference
Mission: To bring professionals and communities members together to devise a

solution to the heroin epidemic, and to improve the quality of life in our community 


Hosted by: The Opiate Education and Awareness Task Force
(A partnership founded by Register of Probate John Merrigan, District Attorney David Sullivan, and Franklin County Sheriff Chris Donelan )
Panelists and presenters will include:
Congressman James McGovern
Representing the 2nd District of Massachusetts
Senator Stan Rosenberg
representing the Franklin, Hampshire, and Worcester District
Chief Justice Paula Carey
Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Trial Court
Court Administrator Harry Spence
first Court Administrator of the Massachusetts Trial Court
Director Hilary Jacobs
Bureau of Substance Abuse Services
John McGahan
President of the Gavin Foundation, recovery for individuals, families, and the community Vincent Piro
and Michael Higgins, founders of the H.E.A.T. Program
Chief Robert J. Ferullo. Jr.
Woburn Police
The H.E.A.T. program in Woburn, MA has assisted over 2000 families by specializing in helping overcome barriers to immediate and long term treatment 

Monday February 24, 2014

1:00 p.m. Greenfield Community College 

Questions: john.merrigan@jud.state.ma.us or rebecca@nqcc.org All are welcome! 

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Feds lobby for first responders to carry overdose antidote 

Katie Landeck
News Staff Writer

GARDNER — On the heels of Department of Health and Human Services reports stating heroin use is up nearly 80 percent since 2007, officials from both the state and federal government have issued statements asking all first responders to carry the antidote — naloxone.

Naloxone, which was first developed in the 1960s, is a prescription drug used to block the effects of opiates found in heroin and painkillers. The brand name, Narcan, comes in a nasal spray that is capable of bringing someone who overdosed back from the brink of death, according to Heywood Hospital Chief of Emergency Medicine Dr. Steven Yerid

“It’s very dramatic. People can go from being literally near death, to being instantly awake and talking,” said Dr. Yerid. 

While many of Heywood’s patients are from Gardner, a fair number have to take a 20 to 25 minute ambulance ride before they reach the hospital. Those minutes are, quite literally, a matter of life and death when treating an overdose.

“A person with a serious opiate overdose can be in real trouble, they can die. The antidote works 100 percent of the time to reverse the opiate,” said Dr. Yerid.

Wood’s Ambulance Inc. has carried the drug for years and uses it “all the time,” according to Operation Managers Missy Fasshauer.

“We put it on the basic trucks a few years ago when we noticed family members of addicts were strarting to carry it,” she said.

First responders, like Wood’s, in more than 15 cities carry naloxone, according to a press release from Senator Edward J. Markey, D-Mass. The

Associated Press reported that Narcan has reversed more than 2,000 overdoses in Massachusetts alone since 2007.

“Prescription drug and heroin abuse is plaguing our communities, and our first responders need treatments like Naloxone to combat this epidemic,” said Sen. Markey in a release. “Communities in Massachusetts such as Boston, Quincy, Weymouth and Revere are models for the effective use of naloxone and its ability to prevent opiate overdoses,” Sen. Markey said. “Our police, sheriffs and fire departments are on the front lines of this battle to save our families and take back our streets from the scourge of painkiller addiction, and I will fight to ensure they have the resources and funding to prevent these deadly overdoses.”

Sen. Markey’s comments are in line with those made by Director of National Drug Policy R. Gil Kerlikowske earlier this week, when he advocated for more first responders to carry naloxone.

“We aren’t going to arrest out way out of this problem,” he said at a press conference.

He also reported that approximately 100 people in the United States die each day from heroin overdoses.

Dr. Yerid said that Heywood sees between 30 to 50 overdose cases each year, but noted that recreational overdoses are less common. He estimated that Heywood sees about one case a month.

“Most opiate abuses are younger people --teens, 20s and 30s, although we certainly see people in their 40s and 50s who abuse opiates that may come in with an overdose,” he said. “We're seeing more and more older people, who don't come in with opiate overdoses, but show signs of opiate abuse from taking too much medication.”

He added that most of these patients come from the Gardner or the surrounding towns.

While some officials, such as the Governor of Maine Paul LePage, have spoken out against having first responders carry the medicine, most seem to be on board.

“If you have to wait 20 minutes for that medicine, that can make all the difference in the world,” said Dr. Yerid. “Having it on ambulances saves lives.”

In Massachusetts, the Opiate Education and Awareness Conference plans to host a conference titled “Heroin: A Community Response to a Community Crisis” on Feb. 24 to look for solutions to the heroin epidemic. Congressman James McGovern is slated to speak along with many other public officials.

The conference will be at 1 p.m. at Greenfield Community College and is open to the public.
 

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1 comment:

  1. The meeting on February 24th is very important. The opiate epidemic can no longer be ignored. As a community we are losing too many of our young ones. If you have the time, this conference is open to the public.

    ReplyDelete