519,471 YEARS LOST

MORE THAN HALF A MILLION YEARS OF LIFE WERE LOST FROM 2010 TO 2016 DUE TO THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC IN OHIO

More than half a million years of life were lost in Ohio over a seven-year period due to the opioid epidemic, including more than 13,000 years in Lake County.

Those figures are the results from a study by the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health, a collaboration between Ohio University’s College of Health Sciences and Professions and the University of Toledo’s College of Health and Human Services.

The study looked at overdose deaths in the state between 2010 and 2016. Several Lake County officials, including Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Executive Director Kim Fraser, have said that 2010 is the year they really started to notice an uptick in opioid-related overdose deaths.

State-wide across that sevenyear period, 13,059 people died from opioid overdoses, according to the study’s researchers. Over that period an estimated 519,471 years of life were lost in Ohio.

One of the most heartbreaking aspects of the opioid epidemic, is the “incredible loss of life as so many young people die of overdoses,” said Randy Leite, dean of the Ohio College of Health and Sciences and Professions.

“The years of life lost data paint a picture of the greatest consequence of the epidemic — the loss of so many individuals who could have been productive parents, spouses, workers, and citizens.” — Randy Leite, dean of the Ohio College of Health and Sciences and Professions

“The years of life lost data paint a picture of the greatest consequence of the epidemic — the loss of so many individuals who could have been productive parents, spouses, workers, and citizens,” Leite said.

Researchers calculated the years of life lost by taking the age of each decedent and subtracting it from the standard life expectancy accounting for gender. Life expectancy was determined from the Social Security Administration and the data used for analysis were provided by the Ohio Department of Health.

The number of statewide opioid-related deaths increased every year over that period. The epidemic claimed the lives of 980 Ohioans in 2010 and 3,495 in 2016. The rise of fentanyl was a significant contributor to the increase, accounting for 65 percent of the overdose deaths in 2016.

Opioid overdose deaths led to a 1.1 year decrease in average life expectancy in 2016.

Ohio’s three most populous counties — Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton — saw the most years of life lost due to the epidemic. Cuyahoga County, the state’s most populated county during the time of the study, saw the largest loss at 61,939 years over the seven-year timeframe.

One of the more recent efforts in Lake County to combat the opioid epidemic is a program that launched in November called the Lake County Quick Response Team. The goal is to connect more people who are struggling with addiction to treatment services.

According to the ADAMHS Board, the program works like this:

When a resident requires medical treatment after a drug overdose, a Quick Response Team will visit that person a few days later. Sabo said it’s usually not when the person is in the hospital, but in those following days where the overdose victim is more receptive to information about treatment service .

The response teams are comprised of some combination of a law enforcement officer, firefighter or EMT and a behavioral health professional. The team members are not in uniform during the visits and arrive in unmarked vehicles and are prominently wearing QRT

IDs.

The program started with funding from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office. It launched as a pilot program in November between the ADAMHS board, Lake County Sheriff’s Office, Concord Township Fire Department and Perry Village Police Department.

Teams always stress that a “range of inpatient and outpatient treatment options are available, and that insurance issues should not impact someone’s ability to get help,” according to the ADAMHS Board.

“This is significant because it’s law enforcement, behavioral health and fire/ EMT departments working in harmony,” Lake County Sheriff’s Captain Ron Walters said earlier this year. “We all understand that improving access to treatment needs to be a higher priority than simply putting more people in jail. Everyone involved feels like this effort is going to save lives. That’s an exciting thing to be a part of.“

The Lake County General Health District for several years now has been offering Project DAWN (Deaths Avoided With Naloxone) clinics, providing opioid-reversal medication to people for free and teaching them

how to administer it.

The Project DAWN kits include two doses of naloxone nasal spray, a face shield, an educational DVD and a step-by-step booklet.

The health district holds clinics on the third floor of its 5966 Heisley Road, Mentor office at 5 p.m. on the second Wednesday of each month.

Clinics are also held at 10 a.m. on the third Tuesday of every month at Signature Health’s 38882 Mentor Ave., Willoughby office.

Naloxone is also carried by several police and fire departments in the county. According to the health district, the medicine saved the lives of 40 people in 2017.

The health district has also recently expanded its Project DAWN clinics into Geauga and Ashtabula counties. Both counties lost more than 3,000 years of life due to the opioid epidemic between 2010-2016.

In Geauga County, clinics are held the first Monday of the month at 5:30 at Ravenwood Mental Health Center’s 695 South St., Chardon location.

In Ashtabula County, clinics are held the second Thursday of the month at Lake Area Recovery Centers’ 2711 Donahoe Drive, Ashtabula office.