Erie County, N.Y. teaches residents to reverse opioid overdoses, provides means to do it

More than 1,000 @ErieCountyNY residents trained and supplied to administer Narcan in opioid overdoses 

Between Jan. 29 and the first week of February, 23 people died from heroin overdoses in Erie County, N.Y. Authorities say a bad batch of the drug was to blame. The victims ranged in age from 20 to 60.

As in many areas of the United States, the county that surrounds Buffalo has an opioid-abuse problem — involving street drugs or prescription medicines, and sometimes a combination of the two.

County public health officials believe the recent fatal doses may have been heroin mixed with fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opiate pain killer, according to Dr. Gale Burstein, the county’s health commissioner.

Erie County, like a number of counties nationwide, is attacking the problem through education and advocacy. The health department offers frequent, free trainings for professionals and the lay public in opioid overdose recognition and how to use naloxone (also known by its brand name, Narcan) to reverse an overdose.

Nine are scheduled throughout the community through the end of April — at churches, community centers, fire stations and schools.

Burstein added that the outreach is an outgrowth of training for first responders.

“We were very aggressive about training first responders, and then we realized that opioid addiction is so widespread that we really needed to reach out to Erie county residents,” she said, “so we’ve opened up our training to both first responders and … county residents.” 

The health department posts its training schedule on its website, and the sessions are held during daytime and evening hours, and some Saturdays. Instruction includes how to use naloxone nasal spray to reverse an overdose. Upon completion, participants can receive a kit with two doses of Narcan.

After one or both are used, the person must complete an Overdose Reporting Form, which is submitted to the health department, before they can receive a replacement Narcan kit. It asks questions such as where the overdose occurred, how many doses were used, was 911 called and was rescue breathing performed?

“We’re really trying to empower Erie County residents — either for their professional work, or because their lives are affected by loved ones who are using or addicted — to help them be empowered to resuscitate a victim if they’re encountered,” Burstein added.

Since 2014, she estimates that more than 1,000 people have been trained, including “train the trainers,” who can then act as force multipliers and reach even more people. Classes are usually a mixture of first responders and residents, some of whom work in health-related fields or come in contact with narcotics in their jobs, Burstein said.

“We’re also trying to reach out to schools to train staff in schools to be able to recognize a drug overdose and use naloxone,” she added. “There are many areas where people need to be trained.”

The county’s outreach doesn’t stop with training. On April 12, the health department will hold a daylong “free drive-through disposal for all types of prescription and all types of over-the-counter … medications and all types of needles — no questions asked.”

Burstein said the object is to save lives — people who may eventually be able to benefit from treatment programs and other interventions.

Data from the county medical examiner’s office for 2015 show a higher number of overdoses in suburban and rural areas compared to the city of Buffalo, she said.

“Many of these misuses and addiction problems stem from originally receiving legitimate pain medication prescriptions,” she said. “You can imagine this would touch many people, different socioeconomic statuses, in different living environments, suburban, rural and urban areas. This is really a problem throughout our community.”