Saving lives one dose at a time

In 2018, L.C. emergency services administered 1,065 doses of naloxone

Lorain County was in the top 10 counties across the state for naloxone doses administered by emergency medical services in 2018. According to statistics released Feb. 4 by Ohio EMS, Lorain County ranked ninth in doses of the anti-overdose drug administered by emergency services with 1,065. Franklin County ranked first in the state with 4,813 doses. The data is further broken down by zip code, which reveals that 44035 which makes up a big part of Elyria, ranked highest with 413 doses. Second highest of the county was 44055, which encompasses South Lorain with 198 doses. The Elyria zip code also showed the highest number of doses by quarter in the county with 117 administered in the third quarter of 2018. The other three quarters of the year showed higher numbers than any other area code in the county, with the lowest being 89 doses in the second quarter.

Elyria police Capt. Christopher Costantino said these high are actually are heartening in the fight against opioids. “Can you imagine those numbers without (naloxone)?” Costantino asked. “I think that speaks volumes for what that’s doing. That number could have been equated to the number of deaths.” It’s true the number of dosages appears to rise as overdose deaths drop in the county. Lorain County Coroner Dr. Stephen B. Evans said there were 85 overdose deaths in 2018 in the county. County drug overdose deaths have floated around a constant 130 for the past few years. “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen (naloxone) used, but it’s a very eye-opening experience,” Costantino said. “There’s people who’ve actually flat-lined and they administer the (naloxone) and the people come back to life.” Elyria police have put a lot of effort into stopping the spread of the drug by using aggressive enforcement against dealers and users, but they also hope to get the users help, he said. “Our hope is that once they’re given a second chance, they take advantage of the resources that are out there and try to get some help,” Costantino said. “Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. “But certainly, we have a great network of providers and we continue to increase the number of people that are out there trying to help people with these addictions.”

Saving lives at home

While the work done by emergency medical services accounts for a large number of naloxone doses administered in the county, it is only one facet of the lifesaving drug’s impact on the community. Lorain County Public Health has put the drug into the hands of community members through its Project Dawn initiative. Dave Covell, Lorain County’s health commissioner, said Project Dawn, in conjunction with the work of emergency medical services, had a serious impact on the county’s overdose deaths. In 2018, Lorain County Public Health gave 503 naloxone kits to private, and educated 589 people, on how to use the kit, Covell said. Each kit comes with two doses of naloxone, he said. When residents return to get a kit, they are asked to volunteer information. Covell said 31 people admitted to having used the kits. “Any resident in Lorain County can come here to the Health Department, Monday through Friday, and ask for a kit and we’ll have a nurse go over the kit with you, how to use it and then we’ll give you the kit,” he said. The kits are paid for by the Ohio Department of Health and funds provided through the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act through the federal government. “So, we don’t really pay for that,” Covell said. “We just provide the nurse to teach you to use it.” The same revenue sources also supplied 3,048 naloxone doses which the health department provided to law enforcement, 98 doses to fire departments and 19 to businesses and public entities like courts and churches, he said. “At the health department, we’re really working with (naloxone) a lot because we want to keep people alive long enough to get into treatment,” Covell said. “It seems that the use of (the drug) has kept some people alive and there is more people in treatment now and there’s more recovery going on and more availability for that. “That combination is what we’re seeing that’s working.”