West Allis program helping curb rise in drug overdoses
It’s a rainy Wednesday afternoon, and Armando Suarez Del Real is driving around West Allis with Eva Welch, the executive co-director of the Street Angels. They’re handing out care packages to panhandlers.
As Suarez Del Real parks his car near an interstate overpass, a panhandler comes to his vehicle. Suarez Del Real hands out his business card with his cell phone number on it. He asks the man where he’s staying. He asks whether he needs any harm reduction equipment.
“If you need anything you can give us a call,” Suarez Del Real, a captain with the West Allis Fire Department, told the man.
“With a lot of the interactions that we have with everybody, we see a lot of the same people. Our circles cross a lot,” he said.
Suarez Del Real and members of the West Allis Fire Department are partnering with the Street Angels — a Milwaukee volunteer group that provides lifesustaining goods to homeless people living on the street — as part of the Mobile Integrated Healthcare (MIH) Program in West Allis.
The program, a public-private partnership, focuses on preventing calls for service through proactive nonemergency visits in the city. EMS workers also partner with other area community organizations through the program.
Providers split their days between responding to 9-1-1 calls and scheduled visits. The goal of the program is to “implement a team proactively seeking outpatients that utilize the 9-1-1 services frequently,” Suarez Del Real said.
Identifying the problem
In 2018, West Allis officials realized
they had a problem. That year, the city outranked all Milwaukee County municipalities for drug overdose deaths per capita.
Jason Schaak is the assistant chief of community risk reduction with the West Allis Fire Department. He does data analysis with the department, which includes analyzing calls for service data while looking at what populations in the city are most at risk.
“We felt that the opioid epidemic was one of the leading causes of overdose and leading causes of death in our city, so we wanted to build a program that could address those needs for that population,” Schaak said.
The substance use disorder program started in West Allis in July 2020. It’s already likely responsible for a 30% decrease in non-fatal overdoses therefrom 2019-20 — even as drug overdose deaths hit a record high in Milwaukee County in 2020.
Suarez Del Real said every time there’s an overdose in the city, a provider with the MIH team is dispatched to the scene. They’ll provide assistance if needed, but usually will interview family, friends or bystanders at that time.
Members of the MIH team, who are on call 24/7, will also respond to the hospital immediately after an overdose. They’ll schedule times for future visits, and offer support to families and friends. The team will go to a person’s home who has suffered an overdose within 24 to 48 hours of the overdose with a peer support specialist from Community Medical Services, a medication-assisted treatment facility.
CMS treats substance use disorders through medication-assisted treatment and therapy.
When people stop using opioids, they experience severe withdrawal. Prescribed medication can help an individual deal with that withdrawal. It can also help them work through counseling and other treatment.
During the visit, they’ll offer recovery services and can also give that person harm reduction equipment, including clean needles or Narcan, which can treat narcotic overdoses in an emergency situation.
They’ll ask that person if they have any immediate needs and will provide other supplies if needed. And if that person is willing to get recovery services, they’ll take them right away.
“Our intent is to flood our city with harm reduction equipment so we can keep people alive until they’re ready to receive recovery services,” Suarez Del Real said.
“I look at it as we’re absolutely enabling. We’re enabling that patient to stay alive. We’re enabling that patient to stay healthy and not get a communicable disease that’s not recoverable,” Suarez Del Real said.
In 2021, members of the team have been able to reach 87% of people who have suffered an overdose in the city. They’ve been able to get 56% of them into recovery services.
“We’re very happy to have those numbers. This is occurring all the while Milwaukee County’s numbers are skyrocketing. So it’s a good thing to be on this side of that trend,” he added.
“We see people from all walks of life: from single to married to divorced, mothers, fathers, daughters, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives,” he said. “Unfortunately, it affects everybody.”
Do you need help?
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a free, confidential, 24/7, 365-day-a-year treatment referral and information service — in English and Spanish — for individuals and families facing mental and/or substance use disorders. Call 800-662-HELP (4357).
If you or someone you know is suffering from a substance abuse problem in West Allis, you can call Armando Suarez Del Real at his office, 414-3028910.
“We felt that the opioid epidemic was one of the leading causes of overdose and leading causes of death in our city, so we wanted to build a program that could address those needs for that population.”
Jason Schaak
assistant chief of community risk reduction with the West Allis Fire Department