Emergency responders fighting hard against overdose deaths
It comes in waves, said Dr. Michael Werdmann, an emergency physician at Bridgeport Hospital.
All of sudden, after a quiet period, he’ll see a flurry of narcotic overdose cases come through the emergency department. Though these little spikes are often related to something in particular — a strong new strain of drug on the market, or a tainted product — he’s noticed overdoses have steadily increased over the years.
“It’s a very significant problem,” Werdmann said.
Indeed, drug-related deaths are such a hot topic that President Barack Obama recently made a budget request for $1.1 billion in new funding to address prescription opioid abuse and the heroin epidemic.
The request includes $1 billion in new mandatory funding over two years to expand access to treatment for prescription drug abuse and heroin use.
Obama named curbing addiction a priority during his State of the Union address in January.
“I hope we can work together this year on some bipartisan priorities like criminal justice reform, and helping people who are battling prescription drug abuse and heroin abuse,” he said in the speech.
Curbing abuse is a priority for many in Connecticut as well. Over the past several years, there’s been a push by first responders and legislators alike to be more aggressive in preventing fatal overdoses.
Last year, the state approved legislation that will allow more first responders, and even family members, to administer Naloxone, a medication that counteracts overdoses.
Werdmann, for one, thinks widespread use of Naloxone — also known as Narcan — is essential to saving more lives. “People are going to use, and there’s something out there to keep them from killing themselves,” he said.
Overdoses increasing
Deaths from heroin and other opioids have been rising both nationally and statewide. In December, the Centers for Disease Control reported that nearly half a million Americans died from drug overdoses between 2000 and 2014.
The CDC showed that opioid overdose deaths — including both opioid pain relievers and heroin — shot to a record high in 2014, increasing 14 percent in just one year.
Accidental drug deaths in Connecticut rose from 355 in 2012 to a projected total of 679 in 2015 (the numbers were last updated in November 2015), according to the state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The number of those deaths involving heroin, morphine and/or codeine also spiked, from 195 in 2012 to 415 in 2015.
Local first responders have also seen opiate overdoses rising, including Milford EMS and Hazmat Capt. Christopher Waiksnoris. “We’ve always seen a steady increase, and it’s been going on for a while,” he said.
Waiksnoris said those battling opiate addiction often get hooked on prescription drugs when they’re young, then graduate to heroin, which is cheaper and easier to obtain. To help rescue those who overdose, Milford paramedics have used the drug Naloxone for decades.
Naloxone is typically injected into a patient suffering from an overdose. It works by attaching itself to the same parts of the brain that receive heroin and other opioids, and blocking the drug’s effects for 30 to 90 minutes.
The goal is to reverse the respiratory depression (or a decreased rate of breathing) that can lead to death from an overdose.
There isn’t statewide data on overdoses that do not result in a fatality, said Department of Mental Health and AddictionServices spokeswoman Mary Kate Mason — or at least to the best of her knowledge. That includes “overdoses in which Narcan was used as a lifesaving intervention,” she said.
But many local first responders said they use Narcan somewhat frequently.
Saving lives
In Milford last year, paramedics administered the medication about 40 times, and 18 of those were to treat a confirmed opiate overdose.
Of those overdoses, 12 people were saved, though six ended up dying.
Other towns also rely heavily on the medication, including Stratford, where Michael Loiz, the Director of Emergency Medical Services, reported that responders administered Naloxone 61 times between Jan. 1, 2015, and Jan. 1, 2016.
That’s up from a total of 49 Narcan uses between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 1, 2015. From the beginning of 2013 to the start of 2014, the town’s EMS gave the drug 35 times.
Though Naloxone has predominantly been used by paramedics, in 2015 Connecticut approved legislation that any person “acting with reasonable care” can administer the medication without fear of liability.
This opens the door to a wider range of people to give Narcan, including family members, and some first responders — such as local police officers — who weren’t previously able to do so.
In Trumbull, for instance, police officers began carrying Narcan in their cars in the middle of last year.
Since then, they have administered the drug to 11 people suffering from suspected drug overdose and, in 10 of those cases, were able to save the patient’s life.
The only overdose during that time that led to a fatality was the Jan. 6 death of a 24-year-old man who was found unconscious on the floor of the Starbucks on White Plains Road.
“In Trumbull, police officers are the first responders to all medical calls,” said Police Chief Michael Lombardo. “Our response to any medical call is sooner than EMS can respond,” which is why it’s important that police are authorized to take any action possible to respond to an overdose case, in which “time is of the essence.”
Meanwhile, Bill Schietinger, general manager of Fairfield County Operations for American Medical Response, said every AMR ambulance began carrying Naloxone last year.
Previously, only paramedics carried the medication. The AMR Bridgeport branch handles emergency calls in both Fairfield and Bridgeport and, like nearly everyone else, Schietinger said he’s aware of an increase in overdose cases. That’s why the expanded ability to administer Naloxone is so important.
“The sooner you can get to someone in respiratory failure, the sooner you can turn it around,” he said.
