Opioid overdose training expanded
Gun violence is a serious problem in Chicago, and the grim tallies of casualties receive a lot of attention.
But in Cook County, more people die every year from opioid-related overdoses than gun violence, according to Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart. About three people die every day from overdoses of heroin, fentanyl or prescription painkillers, according to Dart’s office.
Health officials have responded to the crisis by expanding training in how to administer a life-saving antidote to opioids. The antidote is nalaxone, widely known by the popular brand name Narcan.
“This is what I spend the most time on now,” Lindsay Wilson, health promotions coordinator for the Kankakee County Health Department, told a group Tuesday during a Narcan training session in Matteson.
Wilson said she trained 300 people last year, up from 50 the year before. Her outreach started with law enforcement and other first responders and has expanded to teachers, ministers and other professionals.
On Tuesday, she trained eight staff members of Rep. Robin Kelly, D-Matteson, whose 2nd District includes all of Kankakee County. Kelly participated in the hour-long training session.
“This is a very important topic,” Kelly said. “I need to have more training like this, on other issues.”
The training is fairly simple. Narcan is available as a nasal
spray. A dose can revive someone who has stopped breathing because of the effects of an opioid overdose.
“An overdose occurs over one to three hours,” Wilson told the group gathered in a conference room at Kelly’s office in Matteson. “During an overdose the body can no longer tell itself to breathe.”
Wilson explained how to evaluate subjects to determine whether someone is experiencing an overdose. She described the brain’s chemistry to help participants understand why people become addicted to opioids in the first place and how a dose of Narcan reverses a drug’s effects.
“These harm-reduction strategies are working,” she said. “Overdose rates are going down.”
In Kankakee County, for example, there were 29 overdose deaths last year. That was down from a peak of 56 in 2017, she said.
Wilson has trained employees of motels and gas stations and others who are likely to encounter someone experiencing an overdose. She encourages Narcan training for family members and friends of people addicted to opioids.
Anyone who administers Narcan should call 911 to ensure a person experiencing an overdose receives proper care, Wilson said.
“Narcan is not a substitute for emergency medical care,” she said.
Illinois has a “Good Samaritan Law,” which means someone who contacts authorities for life-saving care cannot be charged with possession of narcotics or other drugrelated offenses, she said.
“If you’re using drugs, you won’t be arrested if you call 911 for help,” Wilson said. “You don’t arrest your way out of this problem.”
Wilson’s training session included a brief overview of the opioid crisis. The problem originated in the 1990s when medical professionals began to focus more on managing patient pain, she said.
That led to an increase in prescriptions for legal opioid-based painkillers. Common opioids are oxycodone (OxyContin), hydrocodone (Vicodin), morphine, codeine and fentanyl.
Opioids manage pain by mimicking endorphins that naturally release smaller amounts of dopamine.
“If used correctly, opioids can relieve pain,” Wilson said. “If used incorrectly they can become very addictive.”
When patients can no longer refill prescriptions for legal painkillers, many who are addicted often turn to less-expensive illegal opioids such as heroin and fentanyl. Addicts often do not intend to overdose, but often are unaware of the strength and concentration of drugs they get from suppliers.
Repeat users also develop a tolerance for opioids and take larger doses over time to experience feelings of relief, Wilson said.
“Addiction is an actual disorder,” she said. “It’s not a moral failing. It’s not somebody’s choice that they want to use drugs.”
Some have criticized health officials for making Narcan more readily available, saying it would encourage use of illicit drugs, Wilson said. But data show increased availability of Narcan is saving lives, she said.
“It’s really everyone’s problem,” she said. “We have to work together to combat this.”
The Illinois Department of Public Health’s most recent drug-overdose data was released on July 26. The department said 2,722 total overdose deaths happened in Illinois in 2018, down slightly from 2,779 in 2017. Overdose deaths had increased for several years, to 2,410 in 2016 from 1,836 in 2015 and 1,700 in 2014.
Of the 2,722 overdose deaths last year, opioids were responsible for 2,167, the department said. Heroin caused 1,050 of the deaths.
There were 417 overdose deaths in suburban Cook last year, and all of Cook County accounted for 1,207 overdose deaths. Gun violence was responsible for 744 deaths in Cook County in 2017, according to the county. There were 130 overdose deaths in Will County, down from 151 in 2017.
Will County also has expanded Narcan training. Kathleen Burke, the county’s director of the Office
“If you’re using drugs, you won’t be arrested if you call 911 for help. You don’t arrest your way out of this problem.” — Lindsay Wilson, health promotions coordinator for Kankakee County Health Dept.
of Substance Abuse Initiatives, said she has trained more than 1,400 since 2015.
“We’ve trained all our first responders,” Burke said. “They’ve been carrying Narcan for quite a while.”
After training law enforcement personnel in all 26 police departments in the county, Burke said she trained workers at all the county’s public libraries.
“Any place that has a quiet bathroom, there’s a high incidence of overdoses,” she said. She’s also trained restaurant workers, taxi drivers and others in how to administer Narcan.
“The more people are trained, the more lives we save,” she said.
Narcan is available over the counter at retail pharmacies without a prescription, Wilson said. The retail price is $137 per dose, she said, but many insurance companies cover the cost. State and federal grants often cover the cost of providing free doses of Narcan to the public, she said.
Dart’s office recently launched a podcast, “Breaking Free: Dispatches From the Opioid Crisis.” An episode featured a 24-year-old man receiving drug treatment at the Cook County Department of Corrections who nearly died in May when he was found unresponsive in a bathroom at the Skokie Courthouse.
A sheriff ’s officer revived him with a dose of Narcan, Dart’s office said.