By Anne Runkle
Daily Tribune
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. — Some years ago, a young man with an opioid addiction was well known to staff at the Birmingham Fire Department.
Firefighters revived him after overdoses several times. The last time, they couldn’t save him.
“It really affects all of us,” said Fire Chief Paul Wells. “We want them (overdose victims) to lick that addiction.”
Those kinds of cases are the motivation for a new program by the Birmingham police and fire departments to provide “leave-behind” kits after an overdose incident.
The kits contain two doses of naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of opioids; instructions on how to use them; and a list of resources that can provide help.
Most importantly, Wells said, the surviving overdose victim is connected with the police department’s co-responder, a staff member with mental health training, who can connect the addict with recovery experts.
“We really don’t have an opioid problem in Birmingham,” Wells said. But in his more than 20 years with the department, he’s seen a few cases per year.
“The kits are on all the trucks,” he said. So far, firefighters have yet to experience an incident where it’s appropriate to leave a kit with a family.
Birmingham’s first responders have teamed up with Oakland Community Health Network and the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities and Corewell Health, which assembles the kits.
Funding comes from OCHN via a federal grant program for organizations that are addressing what has been called an opioid crisis.
From 1999-2021, nearly 645,000 people died from an overdose involving any opioid, including prescription and illicit drugs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Of the 107,000 overdose deaths in 2022, 75% involved an opioid, the CDC said.
Opioids are a class of drugs that produce a variety of effects, including pain relief.
Firefighters can offer the kits in situations other than just responding to an overdose. Maybe someone in the household is on powerful pain medication after surgery. Even though there isn’t an addict in the household, the family may have teenagers who have friends who could access the medication, Wells said.
Naloxone is easy to administer, requiring the user to spray it into the nostrils of the affected person, Wells said. Firefighters are even willing to demonstrate how to use it when they leave the kits at home.
Organizers hope to expand the program into other Oakland County communities.
They’ve already placed dozens of “Save A Life” stations around the county, where people can access free naloxone kits, no questions asked.
The stations are placed in front of police and fire stations, municipal buildings, motels and other locations. For more information, visit https://alliancemi.org/overdose-prevention/save-a-life-stations.
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