War launched against opiates
New ‘action plan’ aims to save lives
It’s impossible to overstate the scope of the public-health crisis that is gripping Ohio. The opioid epidemic kills more than eight residents a day through overdose.
It is destroying families and taxing children services; more than 1 in 4 of all children taken into protective custody in Ohio in 2015 had parents using opiates; of those under age 1, 7 out of 10 had parents who were users.
It is filling treatment beds, so much so that first responders report some overdose patients they’ve taken to the hospital walk out before the squad leaves, discouraged by a long wait for detox beds. The need for additional beds is pretty obvious: A person brought back from the brink of death just might, at that moment, be receptive to treatment.
And it is taxing police and firefighters who are administering a life-saving antidote. As Assistant Columbus Fire Chief Jim Davis says, every time we save a life we have the chance to be someone’s bridge to recovery, their bridge to the future.
Building that bridge will require an all-out community effort, the strategy for which is outlined in the Franklin County Opiate Action Plan unveiled on Wednesday. The plan (at http://bit.ly/2rGWltM) is a strong and specific document, though it leaves open how the initiatives would be funded.
Likely, agencies will have to find community partners and continue to reprioritize budgets. Take the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health Board of Franklin County, better known as ADAMH, which was in charge of creating this plan.
The agency has an $80 million annual budget, largely supported by a Franklin County property tax, and contracts with direct providers. It currently tracks 104 treatment beds in the county and 283 longer-term residential beds. As part of the new plan, ADAMH plans to spend $2.2 million for a new 50-bed treatment facility.
To pull together the plan, done at the behest of county and city leaders, ADAMH consulted more than 100 experts, and it listened to people in recovery and to families who had lost loved ones to overdose. The resulting strategy focuses on four areas: treatment and support; health care and risk reduction; first responders and law enforcement; and prevention and community education.
“This plan gives us the opportunity to combine our resources and prioritize our efforts to save as many lives as possible,” said David A. Royer, CEO of ADAMH. “Many of the actions outlined in this plan will be completed this year.
On Tuesday, Franklin County Coroner Anahi Ortiz, a leader in the opiate fight, reported that overdose deaths in the county rose 66 percent in the first four months of this year compared with the same period in 2016.
The report provides an important framework for fighting the opioid scourge, noting that 3 out of 4 people who use heroin report they first misused prescription opiates. For this reason, education — of patients, prescribers, pharmacies and others — is emphasized:
“Students, parents, educators and coaches need increased education and awareness on the risk of opiate prescriptions following a sports injury and possible alternatives to opiate use,” the report says.
The report also offers hope, telling stories of those in recovery. “It’s like a country-music song played backwards,” one man quoted in the report says. “When you do the right things, you get your dog back, you get your wife back, and you get your life back. I am so blessed to be alive.”